A game of catch is often a staple in the bond between father and son. Tigers ace Tarik Skubal makes sure to strengthen that bond shortly before taking the mound.
Skubal said recently that part of his warmup routine before almost every home start involves a round of catch with his eldest son, 1-year-old Kasen.
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“My wife would always bring him down to the bullpen before pregame,” Skubal said. “Now that he's a little bit older, he'll catch it and throw it, and I think it's fun. Sometimes baseball doesn't feel like a game you play, but when you see your son pregame, it reminds you just to calm down and enjoy it.”
Skubal stands on the field while Kasen stands on the top of a Comerica Park fence, held up by his mother and Skubal’s wife, Jessica. From there, the two engage in one of the simplest pleasures between a father and son.
“Just makes it a lot more special,” Skubal said. “All the work that you put in and all the time that you put in, to go out there and play and be able to perform in front of your family, I think it makes all that stuff that you put in behind the scenes worth it.”
The reigning unanimous AL Cy Young Award winner didn’t play catch prior to his start Thursday, since that was a road game in Minnesota. But his family is never far from his mind. And, in this case, his feet, since Skubal wore special Scooby Doo-themed cleats during the game. They featured the names and birthdates of Kasen and Skubal's newborn son, Klay.