Tarik Skubal didn’t come to Los Angeles quietly, and he hasn’t been shy about the standard he wants to chase now that he’s wearing a Dodgers uniform.
The left-hander said he sees Clayton Kershaw as the model, the kind of pitcher he wants to emulate as he settles in with a team built to chase another championship.
“He’s the best left-hander ever, right?” Skubal said.
“Obviously, that was a great opportunity for me to pick [his] brain [at this year's World Baseball Classic] and talk about what made him tick, what made him so good, his process, all that kind of stuff. I want to accomplish all the same things he’s been able to accomplish.
"I’ll probably keep most of what we talked about between me and him, but as far as the questions that I asked, they were very much [about] how to be great, how to be like him.”
Skubal and Kershaw were teammates briefly with Team USA during the World Baseball Classic, and that gave Skubal a chance to talk with one of the game’s most accomplished left-handers. He came away focused on the same qualities that defined Kershaw’s run in Los Angeles: longevity, consistency and the ability to keep producing from beginning to end.
“I think what I admire about all the really good players in this game is that longevity and consistency, year in and year out, of who he was even towards the end of his career,” Skubal said. “He was incredible from start to finish.
That consistency is pretty impressive to watch. That’s what I admire.”
For the Dodgers, Skubal arrived at the trade deadline as another frontline arm in a rotation already loaded for a title push. Los Angeles is trying to finish a rare three-peat, and the club has the best odds of any team to win the World Series. Skubal’s arrival only strengthened that position.
His time in Los Angeles is still in its early stages. He has made four starts so far, putting up a 3.38 ERA while striking out 30 batters over 23 innings. It’s not quite up to his own standard, but he’s still finding his footing with a new club.
The bigger picture is looming beyond this season. Skubal is set to become a free agent at the end of the year and is expected to command a contract worth more than $300 million. Reports have said his preference is to stay with Los Angeles, though other teams will be in the mix.
For now, the focus is on helping the Dodgers win another World Series title. If Skubal can do that, he’d carve out his own place in Los Angeles - and move a step closer to the path Kershaw set.
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