Freddie Freeman provides good sounding board for Tarik Skubal after…
PHOENIX — Freddie Freeman wasn’t upset when he heard the remarks Tarik Skubal made last week about desirous to return to the Detroit Tigers as a free agent.
Freeman understood.
“You’re not just gonna flip a switch and be, like, ‘Oh, I’m great,’” Freeman said.
Dodgers pitcher Tarik Skubal is scheduled to make his first house start Monday against the Royals. Getty Images
Freeman was in the same place 4 years in the past.
For Freeman, the disappointment over not working out a new take care of the Atlanta Braves wasn’t one thing he overcame the second he signed his Dodgers contract.
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Moving on required more than that.
Which was why Freeman said he thought Skubal would profit from making his house debut with the Dodgers on Monday evening.
“When you see 50-some thousand people rally around you, it’s definitely going to give him a more amped-up feeling,” Freeman said.
Skubal said he was trying ahead to his start at Dodger Stadium against the Kansas City Royals. The start will likely be Skubal’s second in a Dodgers uniform.
“I’m excited to get in front of our own fans and get to know them and build relationships with them,” Skubal told the California Post. “Hopefully, they come to enjoy who I am and what I bring to the table.”
The two-time Cy Young Award winner acknowledged he was still coming to phrases with being traded by the Tigers, the only group for which he’d performed as an expert.
“It’s all pretty fresh,” Skubal said.
In an interview on the “Pardon My Take” podcast, the 29-year-old Skubal said he cried as he said goodbye to his Tigers teammates after being informed of the commerce. Skubal made headlines in that interview when he said he hoped the Tigers would make an effort to re-sign him when he turns into a free agent after this season.
“I would love to return,” he said.
The remarks weren’t effectively obtained in Los Angeles, however Skubal said there shouldn’t be any considerations about his emotions affecting his on-field performance.
“At the end of the day, I gotta do my job here,” he said. “Go play baseball and go out there and compete. Shift the mentality to give everything that I got to this team and the city of Los Angeles. That’s kind of where I have to shift to.”
Freeman said what Skubal was feeling was completely pure.
“You have all these friends, all these people you came up with in the minor leagues that are now with you as teammates,” Freeman said. “You had 15-hour bus rides together. You’re doing all these things together. The organization invested in you. You invested in them. You can do everything you can to win a World Series, and it doesn’t happen, and then you get traded. So, you’re going to have emotions.”
When Freeman moved to the Dodgers in 2022, he said he discovered a measure of consolation in the inviting setting at his new house stadium. He was hopeful it could have the same impact on Skubal.
“Dodger Stadium is a special, special place, especially [with] those fans,” Freeman said. “They welcome the new guys in with open arms. They know how special he is, and what he means to the team and helping win another championship. I’m sure it’s going to be quite loud on a Monday night in August.”
While Freeman was sure of how Skubal can be obtained at Dodger Stadium, he was confused by no matter vitriol was directed at the left-hander, notably from Tigers followers.
“He got traded,” Freeman said. “There’s nothing he could have done, unless they gave him a billion dollars and he didn’t say yes to that.”
Scott Harris, the Tigers’ president of baseball operations, said he approached Skubal’s camp about a contract extension at some point, only to be informed that Skubal supposed to change into a free agent.
Skubal’s agent, Scott Boras, denied that he ever said Skubal needed to check the open market. Boras said Skubal was approached by the Tigers after the 2024 season, and that their supply was light: $75 million over 4 years.
In the spring that adopted, Garrett Crochet signed a six-year, $170 million extension with the Boston Red Sox. Crochet hadn’t gained a Cy Young Award. Skubal had.
Skubal is scheduled to go to Comerica Park at the end of August. Getty Images
Skubal wasn’t fascinated with revisiting any of that.
“It doesn’t do me any good to kind of get into it,” he said.
Closure got here for Freeman when the Dodgers visited the Braves in Atlanta. He obtained a standing ovation at Truist Park. He wept.
The Dodgers play the Tigers in Detroit in a three-game sequence from Aug. 28-30.
“I don’t know what to expect or if I’m going to start there,” Skubal said. “I’m sure it’ll be emotional. I’m sure it’ll be a ton of fun, too, because I love all those guys. I’ve been competing with them for so long, it’ll be new to compete against them. Baseball’s the game. You gotta keep the game the game, and I look forward to it no matter how it spins out.”
Skubal said he needed Tigers followers to understand how a lot he appreciated them.
“I think what happened is just the business of baseball,” he said. “If anything, I’ve hopefully made myself clear that I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Detroit. I’ve said that multiple times.”
Reflecting on the past hasn’t saved Skubal from welcoming the alternative in entrance of him. He pitched at Dodger Stadium as a customer last yr, and now he welcomes the alternative to pitch there as a house participant.
“It gets loud all the time, and they create a really good environment just to play baseball,” he said. “I’m excited to be on the other side this time and have the support at my back instead of against me. It’s going to be fun. I’m excited. I’m looking forward to it, for sure.”
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