Skubal Just Said What I've Been Saying
The player pumped the brakes. Position adjusts to 0.48.
Diddja catch what Skubal said on Thursday? Because it's exactly what I've been writing for weeks.
'I don't know in the history of the game if there's been a surgery 15 days ago and I'm throwing a one-inning hypothetical start.' That's the player himself rejecting the Boras/Morosi hype machine.
But here's the quote that matters for the position: 'It does me no good to come back fast, and then something happens, and I go back on the shelf again.'
That is the language of a player who knows his $400M payday is on the line. Skubal isn't racing back because Skubal understands the stakes. A setback now — a re-injury, a second IL stint, a season that ends with fewer than 120 innings — kills the mega-deal. He knows it. Boras knows it. And now Hinch has publicly confirmed a rehab assignment is mandatory.
The gap between 'throwing bullpens' and 'facing major-league hitters in games' is weeks, not days. The position adjusts from 0.45 to 0.48. The guardrails are holding.