The Los Angeles Dodgers aren't wasting any time getting their latest ace acquisition on the mound.
Tarik Skubal will make his Dodgers debut on Tuesday against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman told reporters on Sunday.
He will make the start on only one day of additional rest from a normal turn of the rotation after last starting for the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday.
It was first reported that the two-time American League Cy Young winner was traded to the Dodgers late Saturday night for a return of prospects Zyhir Hope, River Ryan, and Brady Smith, before the team confirmed the deal Sunday morning.
The trade was apparently agreed to during the Tigers' win over the Athletics on Saturday night, which moved them 2.5 games back of the final American League wild-card spot and increased their FanGraphs playoff odds to 19.8 per cent.
The Dodgers further cemented their status as baseball's top team by adding one of the game's best pitchers to a rotation that already includes Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Shohei Ohtani, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, and Roki Sasaki.
Skubal, 29, has pitched to a 2.79 ERA with 116 strikeouts and 14 walks over 96.2 innings this season.
He underwent a minimally invasive arthroscopic surgery on May 6 to remove a loose body from his pitching elbow and returned to a major-league mound on June 13.
While Skubal is unlikely to three-peat the AL Cy Young after the missed time due to injury and his departure to the NL, the Dodgers are aiming for a third straight World Series championship.
Skubal is earning a $32 million salary this season in his final year of arbitration, an MLB record. He will be the most sought-after free agent in the off-season.
