Mark DeRosa had to deliver one of the worst possible updates to Team USA fans: unfortunately, Tarik Skubal will not be taking the mound again for the national team and will have to say goodbye to his teammates, now watching the rest of the World Baseball Classic from the stands or on TV.
Bob Nightengale wrote for USA Today: “After some deliberation, Tarik Skubal is sticking to his original plan to return to Detroit Tigers spring training after his lone appearance in the 2026 World Baseball Classic, Team USA manager Mark DeRosa announced on Monday, March 9.”
It’s worth noting that Skubal threw only a handful of pitches in his single outing with Team USA, which came in an easy win over Great Britain. He had been highly anticipated to take the mound, but according to the manager and the national team’s rotation, he will not appear in any further games.
Skubal gave Team USA a solid outing
The manager revealed it wasn’t easy for Skubal to leave the Team USA camp and return to his MLB team. “You can tell he was struggling with it,” DeRosa said, referring to how difficult it was for the pitcher to move on with his plan after a strong performance with the national team.
“USA manager Mark DeRosa completely understood Skubal’s decision and did not try to influence his decision either way, but said he was ‘over the moon’ that Skubal even pitched 1 game for USA,” Nightengale wrote on X (@bnightengale).
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In his only outing with Team USA, Skubal threw 3.0 innings, faced 11 batters, gave up a home run to Nate Eaton on the first swing, but after that he dominated the game with five strikeouts and allowed just two hits, finishing with a 3.00 ERA.
