Pirates' Paul Skenes to represent Team USA at 2026 World Baseball Classic
Pittsburgh Pirates superstar pitcher Paul Skenes will represent Team USA at the 2026 World Baseball Classic, it was announced on Tuesday.
"When I was coming through high school, the thing that I thought I was going to be doing was flying jets, rather than playing in Major League Baseball stadiums against the best of the best," Skenes said in an appearance on MLB Network's "MLB Central."
Paul Skenes will take the mound for Team USA in the 2026 #WorldBaseballClassic 🔥 pic.twitter.com/KjXJ95L3Un — MLB (@MLB) May 13, 2025
"I've gotten the chance to wear USA across my chest a couple of times, [and] this is one thing, as a fan of the game, watching the previous World Baseball Classics, I was like, 'If I ever get the chance to do this, I'm never saying no.'"
Skenes, the 2024 National League Rookie of the Year, previously pitched for Team USA as part of the 12U National Team in 2014 and the Collegiate National Team in 2021 and 2022.
Skenes began his collegiate baseball career at the Air Force Academy and is now working with the Gary Sinise Foundation to help veterans and their families.
Team USA will be part of Pool B in the 2026 tournament, and its first round of games will be played from March 6-11 in Houston, Texas.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Associated Press
16 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Red Sox pitcher Hunter Dobbins defends making discrepancies about his father playing for Yankees
BOSTON (AP) — Red Sox rookie Hunter Dobbins made some headlines prior to his first career start against the Yankees last week when he said he'd retire before pitching for New York. Now he's explaining why the claims he made about his father once playing for Boston's longtime rivals aren't the intentional fabrication that a New York Post report says they were. Hunter Dobbins said Wednesday he was made aware of the Post story, but said there is nothing nefarious about the connections he said his father had to the Yankees. 'My feelings and all that are based on my personal experiences and nothing to do with growing up or family,' Dobbins said. 'The whole backstory is stuff I heard growing up and seen pictures of from my dad. At the end of my day it's just from my dad and how I kind of grew my love for the game. But at the end of the day I don't go and fact-check my dad or anything like that.' In a June 7 Boston Herald feature on Dobbins that ran the day before he allowed three runs and four hits in five innings in an 11-7 win over the Yankees, he said that his father, Lance Dobbins, had been drafted twice by the Yankees before being traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks. The story also makes reference to Dobbins saying his father was friends with Andy Pettitte, who played 15 major league seasons with New York. But the Post report found no evidence of any of that, citing multiple official databases and the Yankees' own records that couldn't substantiate Lance Dobbins having played with the organizations. Lance Dobbins' own profile on the doesn't list any Yankees affiliation. The 2025 Red Sox Media Guide does mention him on Hunter Dobbins' biography page, but says only that Lance 'pitched for 2 seasons (1996-97) in the Diamondbacks organization.' Dobbins, who is scheduled to pitch again against the Yankees on Saturday at Fenway Park said he has since spoken to his father 'a little, but not really' about the Post story that first noted the discrepancies. 'My whole focus is on Saturday and getting ready to face the Yankees,' Dobbins said. 'This is my first time in the big leagues facing a team for a second time, let alone back-to-back. So that's where my focus is 100%. I imagine we'll talk in the future or something like that. But it's been a bigger deal than it ever really needed to be. But at the end of the day I really just need to get ready to go for Saturday' The 25-year-old is 3-1 with a 4.20 ERA this season. He said he isn't surprised that this story has gotten the attention it has in recent days. 'This is a great rivalry,' Dobbins said. 'Two cities that have a long history together. Anything that's kind of in the news that goes with both of them that's going to turn into a story. It adds to the game and we just have to embrace it and keep rolling.' ___ More AP baseball:
Associated Press
23 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Teoscar Hernández hits a 3-run homer and the Dodgers beat the Padres 5-2 to win the series
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Teoscar Hernández broke a sixth-inning tie with a three-run homer and Michael Conforto also went deep for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who beat the San Diego Padres 5-2 on Wednesday to take two of three games in the first series this season between the NL West rivals. The defending World Series champions bounced back from Tuesday night's 11-1 loss, a rout so bad for the pitching-strapped Dodgers that utilityman Kiké Hernández pitched the final 2 1/3 innings after starter Matt Sauer threw 111 pitches. Rookie right-hander Ben Casparius got through four innings in his second start of the season, with just one rough patch. He allowed five straight Padres to reach in the second but they got just one run, thanks largely to center fielder Andy Pages throwing out Gavin Sheets at the plate on a 99 mph throw on the fly to catcher Will Smith. After allowing three straight singles, Casparius walked consecutive batters, including No. 9 hitter Martín Maldonado with the bases loaded. Fernando Tatis Jr. then flied out on the first pitch to end the threat. Conforto homered to left-center off Randy Vásquez with one out in the fifth, his fourth. Hernández hit a 420-foot shot to straightaway center field off Jeremiah Estrada with one out in the sixth, his 11th. Freddie Freeman was aboard on a single off Adrian Morejon (3-3), and Smith drew a walk from Estrada. After pulling to 4-2 on Sheets' sacrifice fly in the sixth, the Padres blew another prime scoring chance when Michael Kopech walked the bases loaded with one out in the seventh. Anthony Banda came on and retired three-time batting champion Luis Arraez on a weak popup and Manny Machado on a grounder. The Dodgers, who rallied from a 2-1 deficit to eliminate San Diego in a National League Division Series last year, host the Padres next Monday through Thursday. Key moment Pages' throw home was on the first base side of the plate, but Smith caught it, wheeled around and tagged Sheets. Key stat Lou Trivino (2-0) got the win and Alex Vesia, the Dodgers' eighth pitcher, struck out the side in the ninth for his third save. Up next Dodgers RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto (6-4, 2.20 ERA) is scheduled to start Friday night in the opener of a three-game series at home against San Francisco. Padres RHP Stephen Kolek (3-1, 3.00) starts the opener of a three-game series at Arizona. ___ AP MLB:
New York Times
37 minutes ago
- New York Times
Tigers rookie right-hander Jackson Jobe set to undergo Tommy John surgery
Detroit Tigers rookie right-hander Jackson Jobe will undergo Tommy John surgery, the team announced Wednesday evening. Jobe entered the season ranked as The Athletic's No. 11 overall prospect, and posted a 4.22 ERA through his first 10 starts, enduring learning lessons but also showing flashes of elite stuff. Jobe went on the injured list after his May 28th outing with what the team called a Grade 1 flexor strain in his right arm. Jobe had pitched 4 2/3 innings against the San Francisco Giants, surrendering three runs on seven hits with four strikeouts against three walks. Advertisement His velocity was down across the board, as he averaged 1.4 mph less than his season average on his fastball and 1.8 mph less than average on his sinker. Concern only heightened when Jobe did not talk to reporters and was not seen at all after the game. The Tigers initial medical review alleviated concern for the worst. The Grade 1 diagnosis indicated the strain was mild, though it could still take as long as two months for Jobe to return to play. Further medical evaluation revealed worse damage to Jobe's ulnar collateral ligament, prompting the need for surgery. So now the Tigers are down a starter. And one of baseball's most promising young pitchers will miss the remainder of his rookie season and quite possibly most, if not all, of next year, too.
