Pirates’ Skenes to pitch for U.S. in 2026 WBC

NEW YORK — Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Paul Skenes on Tuesday committed to pitch for Team USA in the 2026 World Baseball Classic, giving the Americans the premier front-line starter they have struggled to recruit in recent tournaments.

Skenes is the second player to publicly reveal his intention to play for Team USA, joining New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, who was named captain of the American squad last month. The team will be managed by former major leaguer Mark DeRosa for the second consecutive tournament. Team USA lost to Japan in the championship game in 2023.

“Growing up, watching the World Baseball Classic, as a kid, as a fan, [I] never really thought I’d have the opportunity to play in one,” Skenes said. “So I told myself that if I did ever get the opportunity to do it, I couldn’t pass it up. So here we are.”

Skenes, 22, has represented the United States before, as a 12-year-old and in college. He said he received the invitation from DeRosa in late April, but Skenes said the decision was made “a long time ago.”

“DeRosa called and I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m in,'” Skenes recalled. “He’s like, ‘Well, all right, we got to work through some stuff.’ I’m like, ‘DeRo, I’m in.’ It really felt like I was talking him into it.”

Skenes’ desire to represent the U.S. was amplified after he began his collegiate career at Air Force. He played two seasons there before transferring to LSU for his junior year.

“On the first day that you’re there, you get your uniform, all that,” Skenes said of his time at Air Force. “But before you even get your uniform, [you] basically raise your right hand to let you swear to uphold the Constitution and protect it from all enemies, foreign and domestic, and all that. You basically agree to die for your country before you even get your uniform.”

Tuesday’s announcement marked another checkpoint in Skenes’ swift ascent.

Skenes was a junior at LSU — and still a fan of the Angels from growing up in Orange County — when Shohei Ohtani struck out Mike Trout to win the WBC gold medal for Japan in 2023. Four months later, Skenes was taken first in the 2023 draft. Last May, less than a year after being drafted, he made his major league debut. In July, he not only made the National League All-Star team, but he started the game in Texas.

Landing a pitcher of his caliber represents a breakthrough for USA Baseball — and perhaps a shift in opinion among elite American starters.

With the WBC played during spring training and the possibility of injury terrifying clubs and pitchers alike, enlisting the best American starting pitchers to participate in the WBC has been a challenge. To illustrate: Thirteen American starting pitchers finished in the top 20 in ERA among qualifiers in 2022, and none of them pitched in the 2023 WBC the next spring.

“From a position player standpoint, I can probably fill out five lineups that want to do it,” DeRosa said when he introduced Judge as the team’s captain last month. “It’ll be the pitching that we have to lock down.”

On Tuesday, DeRosa secured a young topflight ace off to a historically outstanding start to his major league career. Skenes was dominant from the jump as a rookie, going 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA in 23 starts for the last-place Pirates. In addition to starting the All-Star Game, he won the NL Rookie of the Year Award and finished third in NL Cy Young Award voting.

This season, Skenes is 3-4 with a 2.63 ERA in 54⅔ innings across nine outings for the Pirates, who are again in the NL Central basement and fired manager Derek Shelton last week. On Monday, Skenes held the New York Mets to one run with six strikeouts across six innings. It was the seventh time he has logged at least six innings in a start this season.

Now that he’s officially on board for the WBC, Skenes suspects other elite American starting pitchers will follow.

“That’s the goal,” Skenes said. “I think that’s probably why DeRo wanted to announce it like this. So, I’m in. I’m not worried about any of that stuff. And I think, from what I’ve heard, some other guys are too.”