Team USA may not have Tarik Skubal around for long, but its other ace is all-in for the duration of the World Baseball Classic.
Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes confirmed Tuesday that he's ready and able to make multiple starts for the U.S. during March's tournament. Assuming the Americans advance out of their group, Skenes would have the chance to start two games - one in pool play and one knockout game.
"We win, we go as far as we should, I'll pitch again in the tournament," the reigning NL Cy Young winner told Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.
When Skenes will make his first start for Team USA hasn't been announced. He'll pitch for the Pirates in a spring game Wednesday before throwing in one of the Americans' two exhibition games in Arizona next week. That schedule appears to line him up for a Pool D start against either Mexico on March 9 or Italy on March 10. His second start could then be in either the semifinal or final, should the U.S. get that far.
Skenes' commitment comes one day after Skubal, who's won two straight AL Cy Youngs, announced that he'll only start once in the WBC before returning to Detroit Tigers camp. Skubal, a pending free agent who will earn $32 million in 2026 after a record arbitration win, wanted to have the "best of both worlds" by representing his country and preparing for the upcoming season.
"Look, I'm not in (Skubal's) shoes," said starter Logan Webb, who also confirmed he'll be with Team USA "the whole time," according to The Athletic's Andrew Baggarly. "I've got three years left on my contract. He doesn't. He has one year and then he's got to be a free agent. ... His team and his agents and all of them came up with this plan. It's his life, his career. He can do what he wants."
Skenes didn't offer an opinion about Skubal, pointing instead to his two years pitching at Air Force as motivation behind his own decision to don the red, white, and blue.
"That's what we do it for," Skenes told Rosenthal. "This is the greatest country in the world. That's what I believe. That's why I wanted to serve, why I went to the Air Force Academy. And those folks don't get the recognition they deserve."
He added, "We're doing it to represent the men and women that are fighting for us, along with many other things that make this country the greatest country in the world. That puts it into perspective a little bit."
Webb seems likely to start Team USA's opener against Brazil on March 6, with Skubal following against Great Britain before Skenes and a fourth starter close pool play. Who will join Skenes, Webb, and Skubal in the rotation remains unclear. Joe Ryan was previously considered the most likely choice, but his availability became uncertain after a back issue forced him to miss a Grapefruit League start over the weekend.
WBC rules limit pitchers to a maximum of 65 pitches in round-robin games, 80 during the quarterfinals, and 95 in the semifinals and final.
