Pirates Ace Paul Skenes Announces Intention To Play In WBC

Paul Skenes is set to take his stardom to the world stage.

The Pittsburgh Pirates ace was on “MLB Central” on Tuesday and announced his intention to play for Team USA at the 2026 World Baseball Classic.

“It’s important,” Skenes, who pitched for Air Force before transferring to LSU said. “When I was coming through high school, the thing that I thought I was going to be doing was flying jets and playing in Major League Baseball stadiums against the best of the best. I’ve gotten the chance to wear ‘USA’ across my chest a couple times. … This is one thing as a fan of game and watching the last World Baseball Classic, I was like, ‘If I ever get the chance to do this, I’m never saying no.'”

Skenes noted that he transferred from Air Force to LSU to fulfill his baseball dreams but does hope to serve his country when his finishes his MLB career.

Team USA manager Mark DeRosa helped make the announcement, and he noted he wanted to build a “dream team” for the next WBC. He’s off to a strong start as Skenes will join Team USA captain Aaron Judge on the 2026 WBC roster.

The Americans fell short to Japan in 2023, and one of the key flaws of the team was the lack of frontline starting pitching. Skenes obviously helps fill that void, and the 22-year-old looks forward to representing his country and helping it win the WBC for the first time since 2017.