Team USA gets commitment from one of MLB’s top pitchers for 2026 WBC
The 2024 National League rookie of the year made the announcement Tuesday on MLB Network.
Skenes is no stranger to representing his country. He played college baseball for two seasons at the Air Force Academy before transferring to LSU and becoming the No. 1 overall pick by the Pirates in the 2023 MLB draft.
He made his MLB debut last May and quickly forced his way into the discussion of the game’s most dominant pitchers. After just 11 starts as a major leaguer, Skenes was selected as the NL’s starting pitcher for the 2024 All-Star Game.
Of course it helped that he was 6-0 with a 1.90 ERA at the time.
But major league hitters still had a tough time figuring him out the rest of the way, too.
Skenes finished his first season with an 11-3 record, 1.96 ERA and 170 strikeouts in 133 innings.
The full World Baseball Classic rosters have not yet been announced, but Skenes will join Team USA captain Aaron Judge on the squad managed by former major leaguer Mark DeRosa.
The Americans finished as the runner-up to Japan in the last WBC in 2023 — in a thrilling final that ended with Shohei Ohtani striking out Mike Trout for the final out of the championship game.
