Tarik Skubal’s stint with Team USA at the World Baseball Classic will be short-lived.
The Detroit Tigers ace and reigning two-time Cy Young winner told reporters Monday that he’ll make one WBC start and then be done with the tournament. It sounds like the start will come in pool play, rather than in the knockout rounds.
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Skubal shared the plan from spring training in Florida and explained that he’ll prioritize getting ready for Detroit’s season after his start.
“I’m trying to do both things, trying to pitch for Team USA, but I understand the need to be here with these guys and get ready for the season,” Skubal said, per The Athletic’s Cody Stavenhagen. “I think it’s kind of the best of both worlds in that aspect, and I’m grateful they took me in that capacity.”
Skubal also said he’d ask the Tigers to rejoin Team USA as a spectator if it makes the finals, indicating that his start will come sometime early in pool play.
“If they go to the finals, I think I’m going to try and lobby to just go watch and be with the guys,” he added.
The WBC finals will be played in Miami, not far from Detroit’s spring training home in Lakeland, Florida.
Skenes plans to be available for multiple starts
Team USA’s other Cy Young ace, Paul Skenes, meanwhile, intends to make two starts and be available for the knockout round if the U.S advances. Skenes, who at 23 years old is six years younger than Skubal, confirmed his WBC plans on Tuesday in an interview with Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal.
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“We win, we go as far as we should, I’ll pitch again in the tournament,” Skenes told Rosenthal.
Skenes is approaching his third MLB season playing with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Tigers and Tarik Skubal are limiting his exposure to injury risk in the World Baseball Classic.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Skubal’s absence after his planned start will leave the U.S. without one of its top two starters after pool play. USA has a deep roster of nine starting pitchers to choose from that features two-time All-Star Logan Webb and 2025 All-Star Joe Ryan in addition to Skenes.
The upgrade of its pitching staff from the previous WBC is expected to give USA a leg up in the tournament after it lost to Japan on the final at-bat of the championship game in 2023. Skubal’s limited availability is something of a blow to those plans and will leave Team USA without one of its top options on the mound in elimination games if it advances beyond pool play.
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The decision appears to be a compromise from the Tigers, allowing Skubal to pitch for Team USA while limiting his exposure and injury risk. The Tigers are coming off a season in which they bounced back from a regular-season collapse that allowed the Cleveland Guardians to win the AL Central to clinch a wild-card berth and beat the Guardians in the wild-card round. They lost to the Seattle Mariners in the ALDS.
Detroit is projected to contend for the AL Central title in 2026, and Skubal’s health and performance will be a big part of those plans.
After exhibitions against the San Francisco Giants and Colorado Rockies, Team USA will begin pool play in the WBC against Brazil on March 6. The WBC finals are scheduled for March 17.
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MLB’s full Opening Day slate, including Detroit’s season opener against the San Diego Padres, is scheduled for March 26.