Tigers focused on July push to keep Tarik Skubal

CHICAGO -- With two weeks until the MLB trade deadline on Aug. 3, the Detroit Tigers understand what's in front of them: win and keep All-Star Tarik Skubal or slide back in the standings and he'll probably be traded. It comes down to a late July push -- one that manager A.J. Hinch says has been going on for a while. "We've been playing Game 7 since May," Hinch said before Monday's game against the Cubs. "We know what's ahead. We know what the conversation around our team is. Tarik is in the news every single day because someone has a dream trade to make up -- yet we have a game to win that night." Skubal has a 2.97 ERA in seven games since returning from a six-week elbow injury which coincided with a May skid for Detroit. They've been trying to climb back into the playoff race ever since, looking to do so before team brass has to make a decision on the soon-to-be free agent. Going into Monday's game, the Tigers were 4.5 games back in the American League (AL) wild card race but with six teams to overcome. "We're taking it with open arms that its part of our identity," Hinch said of the trade talk. "We've got to block out all the news of what's ahead the next few weeks and get to winning games." The Tigers may actually be more focused on the AL central than the wild card race despite being 6.5 games back of the first-place White Sox. Going into Monday's games, FanGraphs gave Detroit a 16 percent chance of winning the division -- which is several percentage points higher than its wild card odds. The Tigers have also played the fewest games against their divisional foes, lending more hope to a surge within its own division. "We're not naïve that we need to win more games in order for us to maintain our trajectory," Hinch simply stated. Otherwise, a bidding war for Skubal is likely to take place with the Tigers the likely beneficiary of another team's top 5 prospect. Detroit wants to avoid that scenario and getting healthy at the right time can only help. Veteran infielder Gleyber Torres was activated from the injured list on Monday while INF/OF Javier Baez (ankle) is set to begin a rehab outing for Class-A Lakeland on Tuesday. "I'll ease him back in," Hinch said of Torres. "He may not play every single day for the next 10 days but a big boost for us."