May 13 (UPI) — Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes will join captain Aaron Judge on the Team USA roster at the 2026 World Baseball Classic, USA Baseball announced Tuesday.
Skenes is the second player to be named to the roster. Team USA announced Judge’s addition to the lineup April 14. Manager Mark DeRosa will lead the Americans into the tournament March 5 to 17. Games will be held in San Juan, Houston, Tokyo and Miami.
“This is one thing, as a fan of the game, watching the previous World Baseball Classics, that I was like, ‘if I ever get the chance to do this, I’m never saying no,'” Skenes said on an MLB Network broadcast of the announcement.
DeRosa said that he went “big game hunting” trying to get Skenes on his roster. He said Skenes was the first call he made when he wanted to find a pitcher.
“I think we’ve got the guy we are going to hand the ball to hopefully in the championship game and we are going to hand the ball to hopefully in whatever game he wants to pitch,” DeRosa said of Skenes.
The Americans, who lost to Japan in the 2023 World Baseball Classic finale, won gold at the 2017 World Baseball Classic. They finished fourth in 2009 and failed to advance past the second round in two other appearances.
Skenes, the 2024 National League Rookie of the Year, went 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA over 23 starts during his rookie campaign. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft went 3-4 with a 2.63 ERA through his first nine appearances this season.
Skenes allowed six hits and one run over six innings in the Pirates’ 4-3 loss to the New York Mets on Monday in Flushing, N.Y.
