CINCINNATI — Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal, a dominant left-handed pitcher and arguably the American League Cy Young Award frontrunner, has made the All-Star Game for the first time.

He has a 2.37 ERA in 18 starts this season, his fifth in the majors.

Skubal will represent the Tigers on the AL squad on July 16 at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. He will be available to start for the AL on three days rest if called upon by manager Bruce Bochy.

"It means a lot," Skubal said. "The players voted me in. It's cool to get that recognition from not only fans but the players that play in this league. It's pretty special. I look forward to it."

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The Tigers drafted Skubal in 2018's ninth round, at No. 255 overall, out of Seattle University, signing him for a bonus of $350,000 — $7.15 million less than No. 1 overall pick Casey Mize's bonus.

Skubal has developed into one of the best pitchers in baseball.

"Tarik is an incredible preparer, and he is an incredible worker," said manager A.J. Hinch, who shared the All-Star news in front of the entire team before Skubal fired a career-high 13 strikeouts in Sunday's start against the Cincinnati Reds. "The only part that was difficult was that it was his start day, and generally, you don't mess with Tarik on his start date, but even he could crack a smile and be happy with the news."

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The 27-year-old persevered in times of difficulty — aside from being a ninth-round draft pick — throughout his life to get to the All-Star Game in 2024, both on and off the field.

Skubal underwent two elbow surgeries: Tommy John surgery in 2016 and flexor tendon surgery in 2022. He was born with a clubbed left foot, as well. He had just one scholarship offer from a Division I baseball program coming out of Kingman Academy in small-town Arizona. He dreamed of playing college basketball with his older brother before Seattle U. recruited him to play baseball.

Upon reaching the majors in 2020, Skubal showed a talent for racking up strikeouts — 201 in 180⅓ innings over his first two seasons — and home runs, with 44 in 39 over that span. But over the next two seasons, he allowed just 13 homers in 36 games. He also spent three years developing his swing-and-miss changeup, finally unlocking a seam-shifted wake changeup last season that's the best weapon in his pitch mix.

"You try to hide the emotions," Skubal said, "but it's special to be announced in front of the team and these guys that you go to battle with every day. I pull for them, and they pull for me, and they got my back just as much as I got theirs. That stuff is always really special to me."

This year, Skubal owns a 2.37 ERA with 20 walks (4.6% walk rate) and 132 strikeouts (30.5% strikeout rate) across 110 innings in 18 starts.

His ERA ranks third among 72 qualified pitchers, trailing only Kansas City Royals right-hander Seth Lugo (2.21) and Baltimore Orioles right-hander Corbin Burnes (2.32).

Skubal worked as the Tigers' Opening Day starter for the first time in his career March 28 against the Chicago White Sox, throwing six scoreless innings. He logged a 1.92 ERA in his first 13 starts, followed by a 3.56 ERA in his past five starts.

"It's been incredible," said catcher Jake Rogers, who has caught all 18 of Skubal's starts. "I love the guy off the field, but on the field, I'll take him taking the mound over anybody in the league, especially right now. He's really attacking the zone. He's trusting his stuff, and guys are having a tough time hitting it. If they do, it's soft. If they don't, it's a strikeout. It's kind of your dream as a catcher."

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The Tigers entered Sunday with two other pitchers arguably worthy of All-Star status: right-handers Jack Flaherty and Reese Olson.

Flaherty has a 3.24 ERA with 14 walks and 115 strikeouts across 89 innings in 15 starts in his eighth season. Olson has a 3.22 ERA with 28 walks and 89 strikeouts across 95 innings in 17 starts in his second season.

Neither of them has been selected to an All-Star Game in the past, but they're both believed to be at the top of the list if the AL team needs replacement pitchers (for injury or for July 14 starters, who are ineligible to pitch in the Midsummer Classic).

Either way, Flaherty is happy for Skubal.

"We have a couple guys in here who deserve it, but Skubs has been unbelievable," said Flaherty, who signed a one-year, $14 million free agent contract during the offseason. "He's given this team a chance, an opportunity to win whenever he takes the mound, and everybody in here feels it, that he's going to go out there and dominate those guys just about every time out. Combine that with the numbers he's put up, if he's not an All-Star, there's something wrong with it."

Skubal earned his All-Star selection — from his fellow players — because of his performance in 2024, but he has been the best pitcher in baseball since returning from flexor tendon surgery on the Fourth of July in 2023.

Entering Sunday, Skubal ranked first in fWAR (6.2), first in FIP (2.42) and second in ERA (2.60) among 43 qualified pitchers in 32 starts since last year's July 4 return.

Now, Skubal adds All-Star to his MLB accomplishments.

"It'll be one of the biggest stages that Tarik has ever been on because of the attention, the fanfare, the red carpet, your peers," said Hinch, who managed the AL team in 2018. "A lot of really good players, a lot of accomplishments, the biggest and brightest names in the league, and they're amongst them. It'll hit them when they get to that first workout and start to look around."

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal grabs 2024 MLB All-Star Game nod