Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal has started playing catch, lightly tossing, just two weeks after he had surgery to remove a bone chip from his elbow.
"Tarik has started his throwing program, which is significant news just that it's increased his rehab progression to the next phase, which is really exciting," Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said Friday. "We thought this procedure would lead to a step-by-step process, and this next step is literally the throwing program. So he initiated that earlier this week and will continue to play catch daily until we ramp him up to the bullpen."
Skubal, the AL Cy Young Award winner each of the last two seasons, is believed to be the first major league pitcher to have this kind of surgery with a NanoScope, which is designed to reduce the invasive nature of the procedure.
Referring to the surgery as the "Skubal Scope," Skubal's agent, Scott Boras, told the "Baseball Tonight" podcast last week that the thinner tool used by Dr. Neal ElAttrache means Skubal requires less recovery time, and will need significantly less time to build back to being game-ready.
Typically, an arthroscopy to remove loose bodies or a bone chip in a pitcher's elbow has required two to three months of recovery and rehabilitation. However, there is hope in the Tigers clubhouse that Skubal could be back in a month.
"We've been in touch with the doctor and making sure that we're going by the protocol because this is a unique set of circumstances, throwing so soon," Hinch said.
"If there's any sort of soreness, fatigue, lack of execution, things like that, we can get to the baseball [part of the rehab] once we clear any of the swelling," he said.
An early return for Skubal would be welcome news for a Detroit team that has suffered an enormous wave of injuries early this season. The Tigers have lost eight of their last nine games and are fourth in the AL Central.
For Skubal, it could keep him in line for a potentially record payday. The 29-year-old left-hander will be eligible for free agency in the fall. He is expected to draw significant offers, perhaps challenging the record for any starting pitcher set by Yoshinobu Yamamoto's $325 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Executives with other teams say that Skubal's progress will be closely monitored within the industry, to weigh whether this type of procedure might be advantageous for other pitchers with similar issues, to accelerate their possible return to action.
