Tarik Skubal appears to be getting comfortable with the Dodgers, on the field and in the clubhouse.
Skubal produced the longest outing of his Dodgers tenure on Saturday, going seven innings and tallying 11 strikeouts against the Pirates in a 4-3 victory. It marked his first official win with Los Angeles since getting traded from the Tigers a few days before the deadline.
He’s also finding his place in Los Angeles’ clubhouse, which is shown by his new “Scooby Doo Pa Pa” nickname that Miguel Rojas has given him.
“Absolutely,” Skubal said postgame when asked whether he likes being “Scooby Doo Pa Pa.”
Dodgers utilityman Kike Hernandez commented, “SCOOBY DOO PA PA!!!” on one of Skubal’s recent Instagram posts, which brought this new nickname to everyone’s attention.
“I think it’s great,” Skubal added. “I think it’s funny, lighthearted. I think that [Rojas is] really good at those types of things… Especially with starting pitching, he kind of orchestrates a dance thing before the guys go. So he’s a ton of fun to be teammates with. It came right to his mind when we were on the bus, so yeah. It stuck.”
“They play it for every strikeout, too, which I think is funny, too. And I got some video of my boys dancing to it before the game today, too, so that’s pretty funny. Yeah, it’s good.”
The nickname is clearly because Skubal’s last name sounds like “Scooby,” which then brings the iconic cartoon dog “Scooby Doo” to mind. The “Pa Pa” part must have stemmed from Rojas’ unique creative flair.
Any ballplayer getting a nickname from teammates is a sign of affection. Perhaps this affection from Rojas and the rest of the Dodgers’ roster will get Skubal fully settled with his new squad.
