Detroit Tigers starter Tarik Skubal is well on his way to winning the American League Cy Young and Kansas City Royals catcher Sal Pérez got an up close look at why it feels like a foregone conclusion.
As the two American League Central rivals faced off Friday in Detroit, Skubal had Pérez down 1-2 in the count to start the sixth inning when he fired an 88 mile-per-hour changeup that trailed away from the plate.
The pitch completely fooled Pérez, who whiffed through the middle of the zone and instantly came up laughing as he walked back to the dugout. Even better, Pérez was mic’d up, giving us the audio of the lighthearted moment:
Game recognize game 🙏😆 pic.twitter.com/ohlLT5aX74
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) August 3, 2024
“Good pitch,” Perez chuckled. “You strike me out a lot.”
The catcher and his Royals teammates had the last laugh, however, winning 9-2 and handing Skubal just his fourth loss on the season. Pérez even took Skubal deep in the second inning for good measure, but it sure seems like there’s more of a friendship brewing here than a rivalry.
“He’s a really good hitter, one of the best catchers to ever do it,” Skubal told reporters after the game. “And my interactions that I had with him over the All-Star break were pretty cool. To have that moment with him, I don’t know if he thinks it’s special because obviously he struck out, but I think he had a good day off me overall. It was pretty cool, though.”
