Pirates ace to anchor Team USA in 2026 WBC

Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes. Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Pirates ace to anchor Team USA in 2026 World Baseball Classic

By Aaron Somers | Last updated May 13, 2025 12:16 PM ET

Growing up in a military family, Paul Skenes knew his future would someday include representing the United States internationally. Little did Skenes know that his future would live on the baseball diamond.

Skenes enrolled in the Air Force Academy, thinking he'd be a pilot, not a pitcher, before transferring to LSU and becoming the first overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft.

Since debuting for the Pittsburgh Pirates just over a year ago, Skenes has enthralled the baseball world and has blossomed into one of the sport's best pitchers. In 32 career starts, the soon-to-be 23-year-old is 14-7 with a 2.16 ERA (195 ERA+) over 187.2 IP. He's accumulated 7.3 WAR, started last year's All-Star Game, was third in the National League Cy Young voting and won the NL Rookie of the Year Award.

Now, Skenes can add pitching for Team USA to his resume. The right-hander joined Team USA manager Mark DeRosa on "MLB Central" on Tuesday to reveal that he had agreed to join the roster for next spring's World Baseball Classic.

Paul Skenes will be lining up for Team USA. He's the biggest star pitcher with the nastiest stuff to ever line up for the team at the World Baseball Classic. USA Baseball is not playing around next year.
— Michael Clair (@michaelclair.bsky.social) May 13, 2025 at 11:07 AM

Paul Skenes will represent Team USA in the 2026 World Baseball Classic
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@pirates.com) 2025-05-13T15:38:19.111Z

The U.S. squad reached the finals in the last WBC, but they memorably lost to Japan when Shohei Ohtani struck out then-teammate Mike Trout to end the game.

DeRosa returns to manage the team for a second time, and it would seem there is no holding back when putting the roster together. DeRosa has already received a commitment from New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge to join the team and serve as captain. Now he can start building a rotation and pitching staff around Skenes.

There have been five WBC tournaments to date. The U.S. won once in 2007. Japan is the only country to repeat as champions.

Team USA will begin WBC pool play in Houston, March 6-11, 2026.

Aaron Somers

Aaron Somers has more than a decade of experience writing about sports and has been published in numerous outlets, but baseball is and has always been his biggest passion. You can follow him on BlueSky, @AaronJSomers.

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