Diamondbacks dominated by a pitcher they once drafted

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Seven years ago, the Arizona Diamondbacks took a late-round flyer on a hard-throwing left-hander who grew up in Kingman, Ariz. Tarik Skubal had missed the entire college season recovering from elbow surgery, but a Diamondbacks scout who had seen him the year before pushed for the club to take him anyway — and to try to sign him.

The Diamondbacks took him, but they could not finalize a deal. Skubal was drafted again a year later by the Detroit Tigers, and — as he showed in a 13-0 steamrolling of the Diamondbacks on May 17 at Chase Field — has gone on to develop into one of the better pitchers in baseball.

"What happened then was business," Skubal said that night after firing six scoreless innings of one-hit ball against the Diamondbacks. "Everything in life happens for a reason."

How ugly was it? Look at the numbers: Tigers 13, DBacks 0

The loss goes down as one of the Diamondbacks' worst of the season. They managed just three hits in getting shut out for the third time this year. Right-hander Ryne Nelson was pummeled for eight runs in four innings, ballooning his ERA to 7.06. The Diamondbacks trailed, 4-0, after three innings, and the Tigers blew the game open with a six-run fifth.

It was more than enough for Skubal, who did not allow a hit until one out in the fifth. He mixed his upper-90s fastball with an impressive array of offspeed pitches, eliciting multiple whiffs on each of his five pitch types.

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"That's about as good as we've seen this year," Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. "He was real impressive."

Skubal was just as dominant on Feb. 21, 2016, the day Diamondbacks scout Jeff Mousser first laid eyes on him in Moraga, California. In town that weekend to watch a Saint Mary's College right-hander by the name of Corbin Burnes, Mousser saw Skubal, then a sophomore at Seattle University, turn in an electric outing a couple of days later.

"He was unbelievable," Mousser said. "Fastball, breaking ball, change-up — he had it going. He struck out a million. There were maybe a few other scouts who were there and we were like, 'Whoa. What did we just run into?'"

Not long after, Skubal blew out his elbow. He needed Tommy John surgery and missed all of the following year. But because Skubal was still eligible to be drafted, Mousser remembers advocating for him in pre-draft meetings heading into the 2017 draft.

"I remember telling the guys, 'Hey, listen, for what I saw last year, this guy would have been a first-round consideration or at least Top 2 round consideration type,'" Mousser said. "We ended up taking a flyer on him."

In the month or so between when the Diamondbacks selected him in the 29th round and the draft signing deadline, Skubal pitched three or four times in a collegiate summer league in the Phoenix area. The Diamondbacks had eyes on all of his outings.

Thinking back, Skubal remembers pitching well. For a kid who grew up a three-hour drive north in Kingman, being taken by the Diamondbacks meant something to him. He remembers coming to an Opening Day at Chase Field — "I thought that was the coolest thing ever," he recalled — and he remembers getting to pitch at Salt River Fields during his sophomore year of high school.

In the summer of 2017, Skubal was still working his way back from surgery, but he felt good about how he was throwing, especially with the Diamondbacks watching.

"I was very proud, I was like, 'I might actually sign with this team,'" he said.

It did not work out. Diamondbacks sources recall offering him a bonus in the range of $300,000-$400,000, which was about as high as they could go without incurring penalties. Skubal was looking for a good bit more. He ended up going back to Seattle.

"That's kind of what was communicated to my agents: 'Hey, our (bonus) pool is out,' and if you go over you get taxed or whatever," Skubal recalled. "I don't think it was ever very close. I don't think we were close."

In 2018, Skubal struggled as a redshirt junior, still showing good pure stuff but struggling to throw strikes. He wound up lasting until the ninth round, where the Tigers made a franchise-altering selection.

Through nine starts, Skubal owns a 1.80 ERA and 66 strikeouts, ranking second in the American League in both categories. He is widely viewed as one of the game's more dominant arms.

In 2018, Mousser had continued to push for the Diamondbacks to draft him again — "Mousser was on him," Diamondbacks Assistant GM Amiel Sawdaye said, "even after (Skubal) had a bad season" — and while Mousser wishes things had turned out differently, he understands why they didn't.

Skubal's command was rough that year. It was harder to envision a future ace than it had been two years earlier, particularly for those who hadn't been there that day in 2016.

"They did a great job with him," Mousser said of the Tigers. "The kid was great. There were no hard feelings on either side. He was not necessarily the one that got away, but sometimes the stars don't align.

"I think about it all the time. Like, 'Oh, geez.' I don't know if we could have done anything better other than take him in a spot that we would have had more money."