The Detroit Tigers have been dealt blow after blow early this season, with the most significant coming in the form of losing ace Tarik Skubal for the foreseeable future. It's no secret that the Tigers are a much different baseball team when Skubal is healthy, regardless of whether he's on the mound or not. He's built a foundation for himself as a leader of this franchise, and getting sidelined this early has taken a toll on the performance on the field for Detroit. Speaking with 97.1 The Ticket Thursday morning, Tigers manager A.J. Hinch, who watched his team get swept by the Boston Red Sox from the sideline on Wednesday, serving a one-game suspension following the Framber Valdez incident , provided a key update on the ace of Detroit. Hinch's Update on Skubal Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch (14) walks off the field for a pitching change. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images "So, the surgery went great," Hinch said. "Timeline-wise, it didn't work for us to connect after the surgery.…