{"id":616008,"date":"2026-03-10T02:32:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T02:32:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/616008\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T02:32:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T02:32:15","slug":"i-hate-it-tarik-skubal-still-not-at-peace-with-leaving-team-usa-early-at-wbc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/616008\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I Hate It’: Tarik Skubal Still Not At Peace With Leaving Team USA Early At WBC"},"content":{"rendered":"

Daikin Field (Houston) \u2013 Tarik Skubal<\/a> thought he knew what to expect. After all, just last year, the two-time Cy Young Award started the All-Star Game and pitched in three playoff games. Yet nothing could prepare him for the emotions of representing his country at the World Baseball Classic.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the first inning Saturday, he couldn\u2019t feel his legs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I haven\u2019t felt that since, like, \u201824, just that feeling of not being able to feel,” Skubal said Monday in front of Team USA’s dugout. “So, that was awesome. I loved it. And I want to experience it again, and I plan on experiencing it again with this club.”<\/p>\n

It just won\u2019t be in the 2026 WBC<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The joy of playing for Team USA caused the Tigers<\/a> ace to consider making another start for the U.S., but Saturday\u2019s pool-play game against Great Britain<\/a> will mark his lone appearance of the tournament. Skubal confirmed he is sticking with his original plan to only make one start and will be returning to Lakeland, Fla., to rejoin his Detroit teammates sometime after Team USA plays Mexico<\/a> in Monday\u2019s pool-play game.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“My spring training start days were scripted out in January with the original plan being starting and then being done,” Skubal said. “Obviously, when I got here, my emotions kind of changed a little bit, my thought process changed a little bit. Tried to make it work, but just couldn\u2019t. I hate it, but it\u2019s all right. I\u2019ll be the first to sign up for the \u201828 Olympics<\/a> or whenever the next WBC is, I\u2019ll be the first to sign up for that one, too.”<\/p>\n

Skubal is not at peace with his choice.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He said he hasn\u2019t slept much the last few days trying to find ways to make the scheduling work where he could pitch for Team USA in a potential finals game on March 17 without impacting the preparation for his start in the Tigers\u2019 March 26 opener as he embarks on a contract year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ultimately, though, he couldn\u2019t.\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0(Photo by Rob Tringali\/WBCI\/MLB Photos via Getty Images) <\/p>\n

“A lot of that risk and injury stuff is kind of where I drew the line,” Skubal said. “There\u2019s a lot of risk associated with that, and then you put in the adrenaline and the heightened stuff, there\u2019s just a big jump in workload, and that\u2019s kind of what you want to stay away from in spring as you\u2019re building up. Historically, if you look at data, almost all pitcher injuries are in spring or right after All-Star break because there\u2019s time off and then you have a jump and spike in workload. Just being smart. I know what the season obviously means, too. Just kind of the whole thing played into it.”<\/p>\n

If the WBC were a year earlier or later, Skubal acknowledged, his decision would probably have been different. Skubal will be paid $32 million in 2026 \u2014 a record for an arbitration-eligible player \u2014\u00a0after winning his historic hearing over the Tigers<\/a> this winter. A bigger payday awaits at season\u2019s end, when he is set up to become one of the highest-paid pitchers in MLB<\/a> history.<\/p>\n

His teammates and coaches \u2014 both with the Tigers and Team USA \u2014 understand Skubal\u2019s predicament and why he is choosing to leave, which he said “means the world” to him.<\/p>\n

“I know what’s at stake for him,” said USA manager Mark DeRosa. “Given his ability to get to free agency and just generational wealth on the table and everything he’s got in front of him, a chance to win three Cy Youngs in a row, I was proud that he even showed for us.”<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0(Photo by Houston Astros\/Getty Images) <\/p>\n

Skubal threw 41 pitches for Team USA on Saturday. He allowed one run in three innings and struck out five of the 11 batters he faced. After getting through that start healthy, he consulted with a number of teammates and coaches with both the Tigers and Team USA as well as his agent, Scott Boras, before making his final decision.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Tarik\u2019s awesome,” said Alex Bregman<\/a>, who was among the players who spoke with Skubal. “Awesome human being, awesome player, one of the best pitchers in the world. And we kind of all understand the situation that he\u2019s in, and whatever decision he was going to make, we fully have his back.<\/p>\n

“Like Mark said, we were thankful that he even showed up to pitch a single inning for us. We know where his heart is. We know how tough a decision it is to make.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

Skubal said the experience of pitching in the WBC blew his expectations out of the water. In a week\u2019s time, he felt like he had already been playing with his U.S. teammates for months, which added to the difficulty of the choice.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He plans to rejoin his U.S. teammates in Miami if they make it through to the semifinals and finals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But only to watch.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I think the only way I\u2019ll be at peace with it is in Miami celebrating after we win the whole f***ing thing,” Skubal said Monday afternoon before USA\u2019s pool play game with Mexico. “That\u2019ll give me some peace. But, yeah, I don\u2019t know. It\u2019s kind of a tough situation. It\u2019s hard. It\u2019s really hard. I\u2019ve been trying to make it work. I promise I have. I love America. I love our country. I love everything that this tournament\u2019s about. And like I said, I\u2019ll be the first to sign up for the \u201828 Olympics if they want to have me and we figure out the timing of it. If this tournament can be at a little bit better time to give starting pitchers a chance to kind of go out there and be who I am, yeah, I would love to do that.”
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