ATLANTA (AP) — Tarik Skubal knows he will feel emotions when he makes his return to Detroit on Friday night to pitch against the Tigers only four weeks after he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Skubal says he hopes to focus on representing the Dodgers instead of dwelling on his memories with the Tigers at Comerica Park. He acknowledged it may not be easy to keep his emotions in check.
“We'll see, right?” Skubal told SI.com on Wednesday. “The whole process was emotional. I have a lot of respect for those guys over there. I'm just going to go play baseball.”
Overall this season, Skubal is 8-7 with a 2.91 ERA. In four starts for the Dodgers since the Aug. 1 trade, Skubal is 1-2 with a 3.38 ERA. He is coming off his first win for the Dodgers. The left-hander had 11 strikeouts in seven innings in a 4-3 win over Pittsburgh in Los Angeles on Saturday night.
Skubal, 29, made his major league debut with Detroit in 2020 and had played for no other team before the trade. The deal sent the two-time defending AL Cy Young winner to the two-time defending World Series champions.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he believes Skubal has the right temperament to handle the emotions which will come with his Detroit homecoming.
“I think, you know, that whole ‘be where your feet are’ adage, I think that’s just who he is,” Roberts said Wednesday. “Some people have a hard time letting go, but I think that Tarik is a guy that, wherever he’s at, he’s all in.”
Roberts said he expects Skubal “is going to try to engage guys and immerse himself with coaches, with his teammates, the best he can. That’s a good trait. Like I said, I’ve only known him a short time, but I’m really, really fortunate we got him on our club. Not even just for the pitching, just beyond.”
Skubal said he is “sure it will be emotional there just because of the history.” The emotions will be fresh because he has had less than one month to adjust to his new Los Angeles home before making his return to Detroit.
“But at the end of the day, I’ve got to go play baseball," Skubal said. “I’ve got to compete and do what I do well, what makes me a good pitcher. I’ll probably handle the emotions after.”
The Tigers are expected to have right-hander Drew Anderson (4-5, 4.09 ERA) face Skubal in the opener of the three-game series.
AP Sports Writer Maura Carey contributed to this report.
See AP’s full MLB coverage here
Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts looks on as players warm up before a baseball game against the Colorado Rockies, Monday, Aug. 17, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has awarded a $16.7 million contract to purchase 6,000 pairs of gloves that can deliver painful electric shocks, saying officers would use them to control detainees and protesters who resist.
ICE moved forward with the purchase despite opposition from civil rights advocates and Democratic members of Congress, who said ICE officers cannot be trusted to use them appropriately.
A notice published in a federal database Thursday said ICE entered into a no-bid contract to purchase the gloves from Compliant Technologies LLC, a Kentucky-based firm that manufactures them. The deal includes acquiring 6,000 of the devices along with support equipment and services over the next six months.
Civil rights advocates have said ICE officers already face criticism for their use of force with little oversight or accountability while enforcing President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
ICE published the notice hours after a group of U.S. senators, led by Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, urged the agency to cancel its plan to buy the gloves. In a letter to ICE's acting director Thursday, Cortez Masto and 15 of her colleagues in the Democratic caucus questioned ICE's need for the devices.
“The blatant and tragic misuse of force in Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis, Houston, Maine, and other locations around the country raises significant skepticism about the agency’s professional capability to safely deploy a new tool that could be used to harm Americans without cause,” the letter said.
The senators were the latest to express opposition to the plan, which became public this month when ICE published a notice outlining its intent to purchase thousands of “conductive distraction and de-escalation devices” for officers and investigators.
The devices are normal patrol gloves until an officer presses a button to activate the electrical mode. They must be applied directly to someone’s skin to produce a shock that causes pain, which is promoted as a way to gain compliance from people who are resisting. They have been used by some local jails and police departments in recent years.
ICE's notice said officers would use them in “high-tension environments,” including while making arrests, transporting combative detainees and responding to civil disturbances outside detention facilities.
“It will be used when a subject is actively or passively resisting and an officer needs to gain control quickly to prevent injuries to both parties,” the document said.
It said that the shocks would help “maintain control over inmates and prevent aggression or escape attempts,” allow officers to handcuff people hiding their hands, and assist in crowd control. The goal would be to avoid using “more severe force,” including firearms. The notice said the gloves would be used with “approved policy, training, and accountability standards,” but it did not elaborate.
Cortez Masto and the other senators said in their letter that the device “presents substantial risks if deployed during civil arrests — even more so if it is deployed without clear limits, appropriate training, and comprehensive oversight.” They said ICE must make public details about how officers will be trained and how use of the gloves will be documented and reviewed internally to avoid misuse.
ICE's parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, reacted defiantly Thursday to critics of the purchase.
“Sanctuary politicians attempting to ban our federal law enforcement from any safety equipment is despicable and a deliberate attempt to undermine and endanger our officers,” the agency said in a statement.
FILE - Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., walks through the Capitol during votes in Washington, July 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert, File)
Nelson County, Ky., jailer Justin Hall shows an electric shock glove that is used at his facility, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Bardstown, Ky. (AP Photo/Dylan Lovan)
