Tarik Skubal Explains Why He Will Only Make One World Baseball Classic Start

The good news for Team USA manager Mark DeRosa is that he will be able to send arguably the best pitcher on the planet out to the mound for the World Baseball Classic by handing the ball to Tarik Skubal. The bad news is that he'll only be able to do it once.

Skubal, who has captured consecutive American League Cy Young awards, revealed his plan for the tournament on Monday while speaking to reporters at Detroit Tigers camp.

“I'm making one start," Skubal said. “The reason I didn't announce it [earlier] was I wanted to keep the momentum on the WBC, but I'm just making one start and then I'll stick around for a few games. I haven't determined what games I'm going to watch. If they go to the finals, I think I'm going to try and lobby to just go watch and be with the guys. But yeah, I'm just making one start and getting back on track and getting back to here."

Skubal's comments came on the day he made his first spring training appearance for the Tigers, a scoreless two-inning outing that saw him notch four strikeouts against the Minnesota Twins. For the hard-throwing lefty, this approach presents a healthy compromise.

“It's kind of the best of both worlds," he said. "That was the communication I had with those guys. There's some risk obviously, and I'm trying to do both things, trying to pitch for Team USA, but also I understand I need to be here with these guys and get ready for the season."

It was an eventful offseason for Detroit's ace. No player's future was more discussed as everyone wondered how the Tigers would choose to approach a dominating arm entering the last year of a team-friendly contract. And that story could have more twists and turns even after Skubal earned the largest salary ever awarded through arbitration at $32 million. The front office appears to be putting all its eggs in the 2026 basket based on the Framber Valdez acquisition, which will bolster a team that was one clutch hit away from reaching the American League Championship Series last year. It's possible, though, that Skubal could be shopped around near the trade deadline should Detroit stumble to an uninspiring campaign.

Skubal said that his single WBC start is being made with an eye on continuing the regimen and routine he would be on if he were staying in Florida for the entirety of spring training. He's slated to make another start for the Tigers this Sunday before he joins Team USA in Houston for pool play.

It will be interesting to see when DeRosa chooses to deploy his top pitching weapon and knowing that it's going to be a one-shot deal should help him make the proper decision. So in short, it seems as though everyone is on board with this plan. Team USA has high expectations to advance deep into the elimination portion of the tournament. If that happens, the pitching load will fall on some other arms.

There are plenty of good options available in that department, from Paul Skenes to All-Stars Joe Ryan, Matthew Boyd and Logan Webb. Also of use will be Garrett Whitlock and Clay Holmes, who have experience starting and coming out of the bullpen.

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