Justin Verlander Didn’t Tell Tarik Skubal He Was Retiring. Here’s Why Skubal Is Still Mad.

Justin Verlander made it official Wednesday. The 2026 season will be his last. But before he told the world, he had to figure out how to tell his teammates. And one guy in particular got left out of the loop on purpose.

Tarik Skubal had a start Tuesday night. So Verlander kept his mouth shut. Not because he didn’t want Skubal to know. Because he didn’t want to mess with his head before he took the mound.

The future Hall of Famer told the rest of the Tigers in a team meeting. Skubal wasn’t there. He found out secondhand, and he was not thrilled about it.

97.1 The Ticket caught the whole thing on video. Verlander was laughing. Skubal was not.

“He found out second-hand and he was mad at me,” Verlander said. “Were you really mad or kinda mad?”

Skubal shouted from the back of the room: “I’m still disappointed.”

Verlander shot back: “Disappointed — even worse.”

The room cracked up. But Skubal wasn’t kidding. He wanted to hear it from Verlander directly. That tells you something about the respect between these two guys.

Two Cy Young eras, one awkward moment

Verlander is a three-time Cy Young winner and one of the best pitchers of his generation. He won his first one in Detroit in 2011. Skubal just won his second straight AL Cy Young award. The torch got passed somewhere in between.

Verlander understood the assignment. He spent 21 seasons protecting start-day focus. He knew that dropping a retirement bomb on Skubal hours before a game was a bad idea. So he waited.

It’s the kind of thing that looks small but isn’t. Verlander could have told the whole team at once and moved on. Instead he thought about the guy who had to go out and compete that night. That’s 20-plus years of pitcher brain right there.

Skubal’s reaction made the moment better. He wasn’t actually angry, but he wanted to be included. That’s what happens when a young ace respects an old one enough to want the news firsthand. The whole exchange was funny and human and real in a way most retirement press stuff isn’t.

Verlander will pitch one more season and then walk away. Skubal will keep carrying the load for Detroit. For one afternoon, they gave everyone a peek at how that relationship actually works.