Detroit, MI
Detroit Tigers Ace Wins Prestigious Publication’s Top Pitching Award
On the eve of the start of the American League Division Series, Detroit Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal won the first of what will likely be a wave of postseason awards as Baseball Digest named him its MLB Pitcher of the Year.
Baseball Digest is in its 83rd year as a publication. Last year’s pitcher of the year was New York Yankees right-hander Gerrit Cole, who went on to win the American League Cy Young award.
The Tigers play game one of the ALDS on Saturday at Cleveland. Skubal is expected to start in Game 2 on Monday.
In his first postseason start against the Houston Astros in Game 1 of the AL Wild Card series, he threw six innings and earned the victory. He struck out six.
The 27-year-old just wrapped up the best season of his career and won the AL pitching triple crown, as he led the lead in wins, ERA and strikeouts.
He finished the season 18-4 with a 2.39 ERA and 228 strikeouts. Atlanta’s Chris Sale did the same thing in the National League, as he went 18-3 with a 2.38 ERA and 225 strikeouts.
During an interview with MLB Network in September, Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said the quiet part out loud about his ace and his breakthrough season.
“Obviously he is the front runner for the Cy Young (award),” Hinch said. “I think he should win it.”
If Skubal is able to win the award, he would become the fifth Detroit pitcher to claim the award and the last to do so since Max Scherzer in 2013. Denny McLain won it twice.
He is also on the All-MLB Team ballot, another honor that is released after the postseason ends.
It’s hard to believe there were rumblings in July that the Tigers might trade him, given that they were well out of the playoff race at the time.
But, the Tigers hung onto him and put together an unprecedented run starting in mid-August — one Skubal anchored in the rotation — to bring home their first playoff berth in a decade.
“He is a frontline starter and when you have those, you want him to pitch every five or six days because he is somebody who can anchor a staff,” Hinch said.
The Tigers drafted him out of Seattle University in 2018. The ninth-round selection moved quickly through the system and made his Majors debut in 2020. This season isn’t just a potential award-winning season for him — it’s a breakthrough season. He hadn’t won more than eight games in a season before, which came in 2021.
Detroit, MI
Kings Lose Heartbreaker in Stunning Fashion to Pistons
If you heard a noise in Sacramento tonight around 9:30 pm PT, it was the sound of the air being let out of the city as Jaden Ivey hit a four-point play to stun the Sacramento Kings. The Detroit Pistons stole the game 114-113 in the final minutes after the Kings led by as many as 19 points and held a 10 point lead with 3:37 left in the game.
De’Aaron Fox fouled Ivey on a three-point attempt with 3.1 seconds left on the clock and Ivey went on to make the circus shot and the free throw before Fox missed the half court heave.
Fox was having a huge second half and scoring with ease. Trey Lyles had 20 points and 8 rebounds off the bench. The bench as a whole combined for 38 points. The Kings looked back.
And then, poof. It was all gone.
All the positivity the Kings spent 45 minutes building, gone.
Gone with a Malik Beasley heater of 9 points in two minutes to bring the Pistons back in. Gone with a Jaden Ivey four-point and-1.
The Kings fall to 13-18 on the season in stunning fashion. It’s their second one-point loss in the last five games and the third of the season.
Sacramento now has a record of 3-11 in games decided by five points or less and continue to struggle to close out games, a supposed strength coming into the season.
In one of the most bizarre seasons in recent memory, the Sacramento Kings continue to find new ways to lose, and a disappointing season turns from bad to disaster in a span of minutes.
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Detroit, MI
Detroit Pistons Decide on Isaiah Stewart’s Playing Status vs Kings
While the Detroit Pistons have had a healthy starting five in place lately, a key member of their bench unit has been dealing with a notable injury concern.
When the Pistons faced the Miami Heat last week, the veteran center Isaiah Stewart was injured just seven minutes into his shift off the bench. He left the court with four points and three rebounds.
After getting evaluated back in the locker room, Stewart did not get clearance to return to help the Pistons close out the matchup against the Heat.
Since then, Stewart has been out. Will the trend continue on Thursday night against the Sacramento Kings?
Unfortunately, for Detroit, that will be the case. Stewart has been downgraded to out for Thursday’s game.
After going out against Miami, Stewart was not part of the action when the Pistons hosted the Utah Jazz the following game. On a positive note, Pistons head coach JB Bickerstaff mentioned that Stewart’s recovery would not require a long timeline. He was viewed as day-to-day.
When the Pistons traveled to take on the Phoenix Suns, Stewart hit the road with the team. He was seen putting in work following a shootaround session. Although Stewart didn’t play, the Pistons found success against the Suns with an eight-point win.
Nothing changed earlier this week when the Pistons paid a visit to the Los Angeles Lakers. Stewart was ruled out, but the Pistons did well enough to win without him. After getting a couple of days off following the win over the Lakers, Stewart was upgraded on the injury report to questionable.
While it’s a positive sign he seems to be making progress, Stewart is still not ready to return.
The Pistons and the Kings are set to tip at 10 PM ET.
Detroit, MI
New Coach, Same Outcome for Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings announced the inevitable with the firing of head coach Derek Lalonde. The team showed life at the start of his tenure and even improved to 41 wins last season. But this year was a noticeable plateau under Lalonde, and Detroit made the only call they could.
In Lalonde’s place, the Red Wings hired Todd McLellan. The former San Jose Sharks, Edmonton Oilers, and Los Angeles Kings coach has over 15 years of NHL head coaching experience, and Detroit is hoping he can bring the team back to the postseason. It’s a gamble worth taking for the Red Wings organization, but the outcome won’t change as long as the roster construction remains the same.
McLellan is a good coach. He’s certainly an improvement over Lalonde, bringing more career wins and nine playoff appearances across three organizations, but he’s a band-aid. The wound in the Red Wings organization runs much deeper than who is behind the bench, and McLellan will be the next bench boss to fall victim to the lack of talent in Detroit
The Red Wings haven’t made the postseason since the 2015-2016 campaign. Long gone is the 30 year stretch where they were basically a perennial playoff team, capturing four Stanley Cups since 1996. The organization has been attempting to rebuild that dynasty for the last decade, with repeated failures along the way.
The current attempt to build the right core is another one of those missteps. They have good players. Captain Dylan Larkin will be a member of the United States roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off and is a talented point producer. Lucas Raymond continues to improve and become the team’s best offensive player. Alex DeBrincat has speed and scoring capabilities. Top defensemen Moritz Seider and Simon Edvinsson give them quality minutes every night.
Beyond them, though, the roster is so far from a playoff one, let alone a championship one. They lack depth across every position and they’ve consistently failed with their analysis of goaltenders. For several seasons now, the organization has been banking on their overflow of young prospects breaking through to the NHL, but it’s still a waiting game.
That won’t help McLellan take this middling team to the postseason. He has some weapons to work with and his arrival is sure to reinvigorate the Red Wings players. It ultimately won’t matter though. It won’t change the outcome this year or next year or even the year after until their NHL lineup improves drastically.
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