Reigning American League Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal has a pretty remarkable memory, and he demonstrated it in a new video released by MLB on Tuesday.
The Detroit Tigers pitcher was quizzed on some of the strikeouts he collected during his award-winning 2024 season. Skubal was given the count, date, and opposing hitter, and asked to identify the pitch he used to get the strikeout. He went 3-for-3 in the video, and barely even needed the full details for one of them.
Tarik Skubal's memory is as good as his pitching abilities 🤯 pic.twitter.com/Odszxeen01
— MLB (@MLB) February 5, 2025
It is not just that Skubal could name the pitch, but he was even capable of explaining his thought process at the time. He admitted he pulled a changeup to Elly De La Cruz of the Reds in a July game, and added that a September strikeout of Royals superstar Bobby Witt Jr. was the product of him rearing back and throwing a fastball as hard as he could.
It is worth remembering that Skubal had a lot of strikeouts to remember in 2024. He punched out 228 batters in 192 innings on his way to the first Cy Young of his career.
Skubal’s talent is reminiscent of Rams coach Sean McVay, who demonstrated his ability to recall specific plays from the previous season in a pretty remarkable interview of his own. He and Skubal both have a pretty remarkable talent for that, and perhaps it is not coincidental that both are considered to be at the top of their respective professions.
