SAN FRANCISCO — After leading the league in strikeouts and winning a Gold Glove Award, there’s one individual goal still out there for Logan Webb. He wants to win a Cy Young Award, and his preparation to win one in 2026 will begin alongside the two men who took the award home in 2025. 

USA Baseball announced on Thursday that the Giants ace will pitch in the 2026 World Baseball Classic, joining a rotation that includes Paul Skenes and Tarik Skubal. Webb was hopeful that he would be part of Team USA next spring, and after some back and forth between the Giants and USA Baseball, an agreement was reached. 

Webb has been the most reliable ace in baseball since breaking through in 2021, and he now will get a chance to help Team USA try to get back on top after finishing second in 2023. Skenes was one of the first to sign up for the team and Skubal was added Thursday morning, along with hard-throwing San Diego Padres right-hander Mason Miller. 

The announcement comes a week after Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey said that his preference was for older pitchers to make up the WBC pitching staffs. The Giants have some concerns about their most important player ramping up too early in the spring and risking injury, and Posey had a conversation with Team USA Mark DeRosa recently about Webb’s spot on the team. 

“Look, I got to play in it. It’s a great event,” Posey said at the Winter Meetings. “The way I see it, there’s definitely more risk for a pitcher than a position player.”

The Giants didn’t have much of an argument to keep Webb out of the event. Posey and Brandon Crawford are among the Giants stars who have played over the years, and while there’s a greater risk of injury for pitchers, plenty of other aces will participate. The selection of Skubal, who has about $400 million on the line when he hits free agency, made it particularly hard for anyone to argue against Webb participating. 

Webb has received notoriously bad run support as a Giant, but he’ll have plenty of help when he takes the mound in red, white and blue. Team USA’s lineup includes Aaron Judge, Cal Raleigh and Bobby Witt Jr., with more big-time selections coming. The team’s first game will be March 6 in Houston against Brazil.

While rosters still are being finalized, the Giants expect both Jung Hoo Lee (South Korea) and Heliot Ramos (Puerto Rico) to participate. Rafael Devers, Willy Adames, Matt Chapman and others are also under consideration for roster spots. 

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