Tarik Skubal Describes Imaginary Matchup Against Babe Ruth

How would Babe Ruth fare in an at-bat versus the best pitchers of today?

That exact question was posed on the Foul Territory network on Monday, as analyst A. J. Pierzynski spoke with special guest Tarik Skubal, arguably the top starting pitcher in Major League Baseball.

Pierzynski noted that Ruth swung a 50-inch bat before asking Skubal to discuss a theoretical face-off with Ruth.

“How long do you think it would take Babe Ruth to get a hit off of you?” Pierzynski asked the Detroit Tigers ace.

“I think the game’s greats would always adjust to the era of baseball that we’re in now,” Skubal replied astutely, suggesting that, after an adjustment period, talented players from prior eras would thrive today.

“I’ve actually had that conversation with Alan Trammell. … He could easily say, ‘Yeah, I’m a Hall of Famer … I’d rake off anybody.’ But he was like, ‘No, it’d take me a little bit of adjusting to (the modern game) but … I’ll hold my own once I get adjusted to it.’ And I thought that was really cool coming from a Hall of Famer. I was like, ‘I love that answer.’”

“And that’s probably the same thing with Babe Ruth,” Skubal continued.

“I don’t think Babe Ruth is going to be able to swing a 50-inch bat off of me in an at-bat. I just don’t think it’s going to work. But once he kind of gets up to date with modern baseball, I think he’s going to be … great, and it’d be a fun at-bat for sure.”

Ruth, a seven-time All-Star and 12-time American League home run leader, is still considered by some the greatest baseball player of all time.

Meanwhile, Skubal, 28, is in the process of crafting his own Hall of Fame career, which already includes two All-Star appearances and an AL Cy Young Award.