Pirates’ Paul Skenes makes World Baseball Classic announcement

Skenes has quickly become the face of a struggling Pirates organization. A former no. 1 overall Major League Baseball Draft pick, Skenes finished the 2024 season as the National League Rookie of the Year. He also started for the NL in the 2024 All-Star game.

The Pirates star hurler last pitched on Monday for the club in a 4-3 loss to the New York Mets. Skenes finished the contest allowing six hits over six innings of work, and one earned run. He also struck out six Mets batters.

The 2026 U.S. World Baseball Classic team will feature New York Yankee Aaron Judge as the captain, per Bleacher Report. Mark DeRosa is lined up as manager. More roster spots are still to be added.

The event will be held in March 2026. Games will be played in Tokyo, Houston, San Juan and Miami.

Paul Skenes needs run support this season from the Pirates

Skenes is not having as strong a season this year as he was last year. The Pirates pitcher has a 3-4 overall record, with a 2.63 ERA.

The Pirates are simply struggling to give him run support. Pittsburgh is near the bottom of most offensive statistical categories in Major League Baseball this year. As a result, the team is just 14-28 on the season.

Things are so bad right now in Pittsburgh that the Pirates changed their manager. Derek Shelton got fired and now Don Kelly is leading the club. Kelly has shown some signs of life, but the Pirates need a lot of help in order to start adding wins.

Pirates fans are frustrated with team ownership this year. Pittsburgh fans have booed at games, and called for owner Bob Nutting to sell the team. Fans feel Nutting hasn’t done enough to bring success to the Pirates, who haven’t made the postseason since 2015.

The Pirates play the New York Mets again on Tuesday.