Tarik Skubal makes his Los Angeles Dodgers debut Tuesday night at Wrigley Field, pitching for the first time in his career at one of baseball's most storied venues. First pitch is set for 8:05 p.m. ET. The game airs on TBS.
The Dodgers need the win. They have lost four straight games, and a fifth consecutive loss would be a season high. They also no longer hold the best record in the National League. That distinction now belongs to Milwaukee.
According to CBS Sports, the Dodgers are a -192 favorite on the money line, with Chicago listed at +171. The Over/Under for total runs is set at 9. The series already carried weight before Skubal was added to the equation, featuring a matchup between MVP candidates Shohei Ohtani of Los Angeles and Pete Crow-Armstrong of Chicago, plus the backdrop of a potential National League playoff preview.
Skubal came to the Dodgers from Detroit at the trade deadline, with Los Angeles giving up three prospects in the deal. The trade moved the Dodgers' World Series odds at DraftKings from +190 to +150 and their pennant odds from +105 to -110. Skubal is the reigning two-time American League Cy Young Award winner and is pitching in a contract year.
The deal has drawn comparisons to the 2017 midseason trade that sent Justin Verlander from Detroit to Houston. Verlander went on to go 5-0 with a 1.06 ERA in the regular season for the Astros before helping them win the World Series. Skubal is five years younger than Verlander was at the time of that trade.
Even before acquiring Skubal, the Dodgers projected playoff rotation of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Ohtani was considered among the best in the majors. Skubal can only pitch every four or five days, but his addition also carries a strategic element. By acquiring him, Los Angeles kept him away from National League rivals including the Cubs, Brewers and Braves, all of whom could have been in the market for a frontline starter.
The Cubs instead turned to the trade market for starting pitching of their own, acquiring Kevin Gausman from Toronto and Clay Holmes from the Mets, while also adding bullpen and outfield help. Chicago still figures to be a postseason contender, and Tuesday's game at Wrigley puts both clubs in direct competition with a great deal on the line in August.
Skubal is also the second straight former Cy Young winner to be traded midseason. Cleveland sent Shane Bieber to Toronto the previous summer. The scale of the Skubal deal, however, is widely seen as significantly larger given that he is in the prime of his career.
