Tarik Skubal will represent Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, but only for one game before returning to camp with the Detroit Tigers. Recently, however, he floated an interesting idea about changing the timing of the tournament.
“If this tournament was in the middle of our season like it is hockey, I’d have no problem throwing both games. You know, throwing, throwing. Yeah. As much as I can for Team USA, I’d have no problem,” Skubal said on the Flippin’ Bats Podcast.
Skubal is one of the arms Team USA will feature in the WBC. Even though he will be available for just one appearance, the roster will still boast more than enough talent to compete, with pitchers such as Paul Skenes, Michael Wacha and Clayton Kershaw in the mix.
Skubal’s injury concerns
The Tigers’ ace made it clear that his primary concern is injury risk from ramping up too quickly and logging more innings than his body is prepared to handle early in the year. That risk, he noted, would not only affect him personally but also his club and business interests.
“It’s just the fact that, you know, if you look at my velocity as the year goes on, I’m just simply not built up to throw four to five innings at 99 to 101 [mph]. I’m not there,” Skubal said. “And I think anytime workload gets really spiked like that, that’s when injuries start to happen. Workload changes — that’s kind of the concern on my end, and obviously the club and my agent. We’re all kind of in agreement there.”
For the WBC schedule to change, significant hurdles would need to be cleared, including an agreement between MLB and the MLBPA. Skubal also expressed hope that adjustments could be considered for baseball’s return to the Summer Olympics, saying, “Hopefully they get the Olympics right.”
However, ESPN’s Enrique Rojas pushed back on the idea of moving the WBC. “Don’t even dream about that. MLB might pause for 2-3 days during the All-Star Game break for the Olympics, but it’s unlikely to pause for two weeks for the World Baseball Classic. The WBC needs to improve, but it will stay in March. I think the event is very good in March and that other things (not the date) can improve,” Rojas wrote in response to a similar discussion.