CHICAGO — Before Tarik Skubal took the mound for his much-anticipated debut in Dodger Blue on Tuesday, a plane flew over Wrigley Field during batting practice with a banner that read “THE DODGERS RUINED BASEBALL”. That would be just the beginning of his not-so-warm welcome to the “Friendly Confines.”
All eyes in the baseball world were going to be watching Skubal’s outing, and the reception from the North Side crowd reflected the moment.
“The fans are what create the environment,” Skubal said. “It’s a ton of fun to play in front of crowds like that. Even if they’re booing me or whatever it is. I think that’s what makes the game of baseball really fun, the competition really fun, and the atmosphere is really fun.
“I’m sure that’s not going to be the only rowdy atmosphere on the road. I plan on pitching in front of those atmospheres for the rest of the season, and then obviously when it comes postseason.”
Tarik Skubal went six innings in his first start as a Dodger on Tuesday in Chicago. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
(Michael Reaves via Getty Images)
About those boos: As soon as the feet of the back-to-back AL Cy Young Award winner hit the top step of the dugout to go warm up, the jeers rained down. They didn’t stop until he walked into the visitor’s bullpen and immediately resumed as soon as he walked back out.
Even for a pitcher as accomplished as Skubal, the nerves and anticipation was real. But as he took the mound against one of the hottest hitters on the planet in Pete Crow-Armstrong, Skubal did what he always does.
Skubal worked a 2-2 count against Crow-Armstrong before freezing the Cubs’ leadoff man with a 99-mph fastball low and away for his first strikeout as a Dodger.
“Going to bed last night, excited. It felt like my major league debut,” Skubal said. “Kind of the same type of vibe in terms of the nerves running through. … Baseball is baseball. The game’s the game. It’s my job to just go out there and compete and do what I can and try to put our team in a position to win a ballgame. That’s all I can ask myself to do. But the game is always just the game.”
Between the boos and jeers from the Wrigley faithful, Skubal gave the Dodgers a chance to win Tuesday evening. He pitched six innings and allowed two runs with two walks and six strikeouts in L.A.’s 5-1 loss.
“It was awesome,” shortstop Mookie Betts said. “He pitched great. Only gave up, what, two runs? I’m glad he’s on our side.”
Skubal is just one of the many highly-anticipated debuts the Dodgers have had in recent years. Since 2023, the likes of Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell and many more have had that first game as a Dodger. And even though he’s seen plenty of these types of games, manager Dave Roberts doesn’t take them for granted.
“I intentionally try to not get jaded on moments like this, because I think the fans, the media, the players get excited about this,” Robers said before the game. “I try to acknowledge that it’s not just another game. Yeah, it’s one of 162, but I do think that Tarik Skubal making a start for the Dodgers is a big deal for baseball and for Dodger fans. I think that is acknowledging and not trying to minimize something that is obvious.”
Skubal has been the most talked about man in the sport over the past three months, which is hard to do when you play on the same team as Shohei Ohtani. And now that he plays for baseball’s villain in the Dodgers, the response he received Tuesday in Chicago is going to be his new reality.
“There was some extra focus on him,” Roberts said after Skubal’s Dodger debut. “But as far as you know, the first two games, there’s a lot of focus on us. There’s a lot of energy, good energy. … We’ve come to expect that. But yeah, I do think that Tarik will get that kind of reception every time he toes the rubber.”
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