Tyler, now 31, was Tarik's most frequent and most combative opponent. They would wrestle or play one-on-one basketball games, what Tyler calls "Skubal Games" played by "Skubal Rules," which meant the defense calls fouls and "nobody ever thinks they foul, so most Skubal Games started out competitive and ended up as boxing matches."

Given Skubal's brilliance this season (10-2, 2.02 ERA and a league-best 11.5 strikeouts per nine innings), the announcement was not a surprise.