Left-hander Tarik Skubal is obsessed with first-pitch strikes.

So are the Detroit Tigers.

"It's on the scoreboard at home games," Skubal said. "I think that's kind of an emphasis as a team. It's not there just to be there. I don't think it's a coincidence there."

Skubal is the frontrunner to win American League Cy Young, but he also leads MLB with a 74.2% first-pitch strike rate. The 27-year-old has a 2.01 ERA with 11 walks and 80 strikeouts across 67 innings in 11 starts in the 2024 season.

"It helps a ton," said Skubal, whose 2.05 FIP ranks first among MLB pitchers. "You're going to have some bad days, and there are going to be some balls put in play, and you might give up some hard contact early in at-bats, but more often than not, you can play the percentages. When you're getting ahead, batting averages are way down."

Opponents hit .196 with a .576 OPS against Skubal after he gets ahead 0-1 in the count, spanning his entire five-year MLB career. Opponents also hit .234 with a .732 OPS after he falls behind 1-0 in the count.

In 2024, Skubal is one of the best pitchers in baseball at getting to an 0-1 count.

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He showcased his ability to throw first-pitch strikes in Wednesday's 8-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates at Comerica Park, in which Skubal shoved seven scoreless innings on three hits and one walk with eight strikeouts.

He threw first-pitch strikes to 23 of 25 batters for an incredible 92% first-pitch strike rate.

"One of the things that we talk a ton about is first-pitch strikes," manager A.J. Hinch said. "As a team, we've been really good at it, and then to combat that, you see a lot of teams start to feel us out early and then ambush us the second and third time through the order. Tarik is at the extreme of that."

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Facing the Pirates, Skubal racked up seven of his nine strikeouts through the first four innings, but he burned through 70 of his 93 pitches. He always wants to pitch deep in the game, but his pitch count was too high.

"I thought early I had a lot of uncompetitive misses with two strikes," Skubal said. "I kept going right back at guys. My first-pitch strike percentage was really high, and then they started swinging and putting the ball in play once they realized I was going to be in the zone all day."

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In the fifth inning, nothing changed but everything changed at the same time.

Skubal maintained his same approach of throwing first-pitch strikes, but as the game entered its second half with the Tigers ahead by multiple runs, the Pirates flipped their approach from selective to aggressive.

"Big-league hitters don't like to fall behind, so they start swinging early and quality pitchers become really important," Hinch said. "It's all tied together. When you pound the zone, teams are going to combat that by going into swing mode."

Catcher Jake Rogers, who has caught all of Skubal's 11 starts, shared what he saw from behind the plate.

"I think most teams, later in the game, are going to try to get a heater early to stay away from different stuff," Rogers said. "I kind of think that's what happened."

Skubal never shied away from the strike zone.

He recorded three outs on five pitches in the fifth inning, taking his pitch count from 70 to 75. He then recorded three outs on seven pitches in the sixth inning, moving his pitch count from 75 to 82. All six outs were on balls in play.

The quick outs allowed Skubal to pitch into the seventh inning.

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Skubal completed the seventh inning for the second time this season, finishing at 93 pitches. He felt strong enough to return for the eighth, but the Tigers were ahead by eight runs, so there wasn't any reason to push the ace to his limits.

"I was thinking five and dive early," Skubal said. "I needed to be more efficient, and then they kind of helped me out in the fifth and sixth and let me earn the seventh."

There are 128 qualified pitchers in baseball this season.

Skubal sits at the top of the leaderboard with 74.2% first-pitch strike rate. For the other starting pitchers, Casey Mize ranks 15th at 68.2%, Reese Olson ranks 30th at 65.9% and Jack Flaherty ranks 79th at 61.7%.

In a perfect world, the Tigers would prefer their pitchers at 100% in the first-pitch category.

Not only does Skubal rank atop MLB in first-pitch strikes, he also leads the pack with a 26% in-zone swing-and-miss rate, meaning Skubal misses bats better than anyone else when he throws pitches inside the strike zone.

He does most of his work inside the strike zone.

And he's having success.

"I think a lot of that stems from confidence in your stuff," Skubal said.

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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' Tarik Skubal dominating thanks to first-pitch strikes