Detroit Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal is lined up for at least three starts down the stretch in a postseason race with minimal room for error. The stretch of three or four starts begins Thursday with his start against the Colorado Rockies at Comerica Park.

But Skubal isn't scheduled to pitch in any of the six games against the Baltimore Orioles.

"We've told him he's going to pitch on Thursday against the Rockies," manager A.J. Hinch said before Tuesday's series opener against the Rockies. "Five or six days after that, he'll pitch again, I think it's in Kansas City, and then on that last homestand."

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The Tigers have been monitoring Skubal's workload throughout the entire season. He has pitched on five days rest (instead of the typical four days rest for starters) in two of the last three starts, with the other on six days rest.

If Skubal stays on five days rest, he would be lined up start Sept. 18 (at Kansas City Royals) and Sept. 24 (vs. Tampa Bay Rays). If that happens, Skubal would be available, if needed, to start Sept. 29 — on four days rest — in the season finale against the MLB-worst Chicago White Sox at Comerica Park.

The bad news: Skubal isn't scheduled to start for the Tigers in the two series against the Orioles on Sept. 13-15 at Comerica Park and Sept. 20-22 at Camden Yards.

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In 2024, Skubal has a 2.53 ERA with 33 walks and 208 strikeouts across 174 innings in 28 starts, his first full season in return from left flexor tendon surgery. He is the frontrunner to win the American League Cy Young Award, and it's not even close.

Skubal pitched just 80⅓ innings in 2023.

"Copy and paste about just focus on what his next starts, and where he is, and what he can give us," Hinch said. "I don't think it's fair on the player to really bring all of that public or all of that saying, you're allowed this many pitches or this many innings. We're about winning games. We want to put him in a good position to help us on Thursday. The other stuff will be handled kind of start by start."

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As for the Sept. 29 finale, the Tigers could skip that start if they're already eliminated from the postseason or push that start to Game 1 of the wild-card series if they're already in the postseason.

Entering Tuesday, the Tigers trail by three games in the hunt for the third and final spot in the AL wild card.

"It's exciting," Skubal said before Tuesday's game. "It's what you play the game for. You play the game to go play in the postseason and see what happens. It's exciting, but we need to not let the moment get too big and focus on just winning games, and then let everything else take care of itself."

Skubal, by the way, hasn't pitched on four days rest since Aug. 18 in the MLB Little League Classic against the New York Yankees in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Only two of his seven starts have been on four days rest since the beginning of August.

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In all 28 starts, Skubal has started 11 times on four days rest (with a 3.11 ERA), nine times on five days rest (with a 2.41 ERA) and eight times on six days rest (with a 1.93 ERA).

He could finish with 31 or 32 starts.

"I feel good," Skubal said. "Physically, I feel good. I'm ready to attack this month and finish strong and see what happens. We're right in the thick of things. We need to focus on winning today's game. And that's where I'm at."

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

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: How Detroit Tigers plan to use ace Tarik Skubal in postseason race