How Pirates' Paul Skenes is Approaching World Baseball Classic
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PITTSBURGH — Paul Skenes has an important season ahead of him with the Pittsburgh Pirates, but he will pitch prior with Team USA in the 2026 World Baseball Classic.
Skenes spoke with Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic and Fox Sports and told him that his plan in the international tournament is to make two starts, as long as Team USA makes it out of Pool Play.
“We win, we go as far as we should, I’ll pitch again in the tournament,” Skenes said to Rosenthal.
The World Baseball Classic takes place March 5-17, with Pool Play going from March 6-10 for Team USA, the quarterfinals March 13-14, the semifinals March 15-17 and then the final on March 17.
What this Means for Skenes' Season Preparation
Skenes is set to make his Grapefruit League debut for the Pirates on Feb. 25 against the Atlanta Braves on the road at CoolToday Park in North Port, Fla.
This marks nine days from Team USA and their opening game vs. Team Brazil on March 6, so that's plenty of time for Skenes to get rest after likely just two pitches of work.
It's unknown if Skenes will make a second Spring Training start between that time for the Pirates, but at a small workload, it might not be too inconceivable.
Skenes is taking a different approach from fellow 2025 Cy Young Award winner in the American League champion, Detroit Tigers left-handed starting pitcher Tarik Skubal, who is starting just once.
There are always injury concerns for teams that have pitchers going to the World Baseball Classic, with freak injuries and other ailments that hurt their stars for the season.
It's understandable that Skubal, who heads into free agency next offseason, will want to avoid doing something that will hurt his financial line at that point in time due to pitching for Team USA.
Skenes was always going to pitch for Team USA, announcing his decision back last May as one of the first players to do so. He is also still in pre-arbitration and has three years of arbitration before hitting free agency at the end of the decade.
The 23-year old attended Air Force and was set on becoming cadet before becoming one of the best pitchers in baseball.
Skenes committing to two starts shows his commitment to Team USA and his desire to bring home the championship for the first time since 2017.
"There’s no bigger stage than this," Skenes said on the World Baseball Classic back in May. "Playing in it before, it was 12U and then a college team, so that’s obviously within 12 years old and then within a couple years of age in college. Now it’s everybody, it’s the best of the best. So, there’s no greater Team USA team to play on than this one and represent the nation on the biggest stage."
Who Else is Pitching for Team USA?
Skenes and Skubal are the two best pitchers in baseball, but Team USA will have a decent set of pitchers at the World Baseball Classic.
San Francisco Giants right-handed starting pitcher Logan Webb led the NL in strikeouts last season, is a two-time All-Star and won a Gold Glove Award in 2025.
Other All-Stars include right-handed pitchers in New York Mets' Clay Holmes, Minnesota Twins' Joe Ryan, New York Yankees' David Bednar and San Diego Padres' Mason Miller, plus Chicago Cubs left-handed starting pitcher Matthew Boyd.
Team USA also has some older veterans on the team in Clayton Kershaw, who is retired, but came back to pitch in the WBC, plus Michael Wacha, a 2015 All-Star.
Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.