Skubal had always wanted to meet Scherzer, and after their spring training matchup, he finally got his wish.

Ask most starting pitchers, and they'll say they don't think about who's on the opposing mound. They don't face that hitter, nor worry about his pitches, so they just focus on their own game.

But when Tarik Skubal learned earlier this week that he'd be facing the Toronto Blue Jays in spring training today—and who the opposing starter would be—he was thrilled.

“Oh, absolutely,” Skubal said Thursday upon learning Max Scherzer was the Blue Jays' scheduled starter.

Skubal and Justin Verlander are teammates with the Detroit Tigers this spring training. When he played for Team USA in the Classic, he shared a locker room with Clayton Kershaw, and Andy Pettitte was his pitching coach. But he had never met Scherzer, the legend who won his first of three Cy Young Awards in 2013 as a Tigers player and remains Detroit's last pitcher to achieve 20 wins in a single season. Beyond his Tigers connection, Scherzer's story of proving doubters wrong and maintaining longevity has always captivated Skubal. Skubal, a ninth-round pick in 2018, underwent Tommy John surgery during college.

“It's his journey,” Skubal said. “I think many said he'd be done by age 21, but he obviously wasn't. I love stories like that, stories about how going all-out doesn't work. Then you say, ‘I don’t know, he’s been pretty good all along, tell me about it?’”

“Look at his stats and his achievements: World Series, Cy Young Awards, all of that. He's accomplished as much as anyone in this business, he'll be a Hall of Famer, so getting to know someone like that is really cool.”

Over the past few years, they've admired each other. But when the chance to meet arose, Skubal hesitated about how to approach him.

“I heard he's pretty intense on game days,” Skubal said. “But I wasn't sure about spring training. Because I wanted to greet him before the game, but then I thought, ‘Eh, maybe not. Might not be the right time.’”

So Skubal—making his first start since pitching for Team USA last weekend—followed his usual pre-game routine, took the mound, and pitched 4.2 innings with seven strikeouts. As in his Classic start against Team Great Britain, his only run allowed came from a home run, this time by Daulton Varsho. His first strikeout came from an aggressive duel, a 99 mph sinker that left Eloy Jiménez standing struck out. He used all his pitches, trusting catcher Dillon Dingler's creative game-calling.

But when the Tigers were batting and Skubal was in the dugout, instead of focusing on his next inning prep, he watched Scherzer. The 41-year-old veteran, in his second outing this spring, pitched 4.2 scoreless innings with five strikeouts. His fastball averaged 93.4 mph, topping 95.4 mph, generating six swings-and-misses and eight called strikes.

Skubal was captivated.

“In that situation, I kept watching him,” he said. “The pitching coach, Fetter, was sitting to my right, and he said, ‘It’s incredible he can still pitch like this.’ I said, ‘Absolutely.’”

“He still looks so sharp. I think it’s motivating for me. I’m 29. I hope at 41 I can be like that, maintaining my daily training and consistency like I do now. Hopefully I can do the same thing then. Of course, that’s later; I need to focus on the present. But watching someone like that pitch is really cool.”

Skubal didn’t have to just watch. Because it was spring training, the Blue Jays allowed Skubal to use TD Ballpark’s training facilities for post-game strength work. When he walked in, Scherzer was there too.

“We just talked baseball, about how he moves, how he feels, things like that,” he said. “He looked great today, obviously…”

“The last time I saw him pitch was maybe two years ago, and I think he looked even better today than two years ago. Considering he’s 41, that’s incredible. I told him 43, he said he’s 41, I said ‘Sorry, man.’”

He had mixed up Scherzer’s age with Verlander’s. “The other future Hall of Famer is 43,” he said.

But as both demonstrated, age is just a number. Attention to detail is key.

“This is what I’m starting to learn from these truly great guys,” Skubal said. “He’s so focused. He said some things I won’t repeat, but mentally I never would have thought on that level myself. It opened my eyes. Verlander, them too. Their preparation approach, it’s really special to watch.”