Dodgers Trade for Skubal Before NLCS Clash With Brewers

Los Angeles enters the National League Championship Series with an additional frontline starter after acquiring Tarik Skubal from Detroit before the trade deadline, setting up a Game 1 pitching matchup against Milwaukee Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski at American Family Field on Sunday. The decision strengthened the Dodgers' rotation while denying Milwaukee the opportunity to pursue one of baseball's premier pitchers.

According to MLB.com, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman sent three prospects to the Tigers for Skubal, including two ranked among MLB Pipeline's Top 100 prospects. The move supported Los Angeles' pursuit of a third consecutive World Series championship while adding protection against injuries to its existing starters.

Skubal, the reigning two-time American League Cy Young Award winner, had undergone surgery to remove loose bodies from his left elbow and missed six weeks. Despite the interruption, he remained one of the most sought-after pitchers available before the deadline, with multiple contenders pursuing him.

Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy acknowledged the challenge Milwaukee would have posed with Skubal alongside Misiorowski in its rotation.

"Obviously, that wouldn't be very fun to come in here and face Miz, then Skubal and the other guys the Brewers are going to roll out there. It's a very good staff. Yeah, I'm very thankful they don't have a two-time Cy Young winner like Skoobs on that staff right now." Muncy said.

Skubal joined a rotation that already featured Shohei Ohtani, Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow. According to MLB.com, injuries had sidelined Snell, Glasnow and Ohtani at various points, making Skubal an additional option for the Dodgers during the postseason.

Friedman said the organization focused on building the strongest possible roster for October rather than making its decisions around individual opponents.

"Obviously that is a fact of it. It's not part of our mindset. We're doing what we can to put ourselves in the best position to have the strongest 26-man roster in October that we feel like gives us the best chance to win 11 games.

And we know those teams are really good, we know that they're going to add some players and be even better, and so we're going to have our work cut out for us. But obviously first things first, we're going to do what we can to accomplish our regular-season goal. I feel really good about the talent we have, and not just the talent but the makeup and how they're wired to do everything we can to win that last game of the year."

Friedman said.

Milwaukee had already lost Brandon Woodruff and Quinn Priester to season-ending injuries before the deadline. Rather than securing Skubal, the Brewers added former Dodgers pitcher Dustin May and relievers Antonio Senzatela and JoJo Romero.

Brewers outfielder Sal Frelick said the team did not view the unsuccessful pursuit as a reason to panic.

"I don't know if 'discouraging' is the word. Obviously, no [other] guy like that is out there. But I don't think anybody in this room is like, 'We need something.'

Or like, 'Please, please.' No one feels that way. You know a guy like that could help any team that gets him, right?

I don't think anybody is too surprised where he ended up. That team gets a lot of those blockbusters." Frelick said.

Milwaukee president of baseball operations Matt Arnold acknowledged the quality of the pitcher the Brewers would face in the series opener.

"Any time you're going after guys, there are probably other good teams also going after them. Probably not going to get into a ton of specifics around what that looked like, but yeah, the guy throwing against us tomorrow is really talented, and we faced him before, and we're going to have to be ready for it." Arnold said.

Arnold also recognized the Dodgers' successful acquisition after both clubs competed for talent at the deadline.

"Every team was looking to acquire good players at the Deadline, and ultimately they landed a really good one there in Tarik Skubal." Arnold said.

The impact of the trade was reflected in the teams' pitching statistics. From Aug. 4, when Skubal made his first start for Los Angeles, through the end of the regular season, the Dodgers' rotation recorded an MLB-best 8.0 fWAR, compared with 2.9 for Milwaukee, which ranked 18th, according to MLB.com.

The matchup also renews a postseason rivalry shaped by Milwaukee's struggles against Los Angeles in the previous NLCS. The Brewers were swept last October, batting .118 and scoring four runs across the series, according to MLB.com. Two of those runs came against the Dodgers' starting quartet of Snell, Yamamoto, Glasnow and Ohtani, who combined for 28 2/3 innings.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the series could have looked substantially different if Milwaukee had acquired Skubal instead.

"It would look really different. What [the Brewers] do, they had the best record in baseball. Certainly when you're talking about a seven-game series, to see Tarik on the other side would certainly -- the series would look a lot different." Roberts said.