Team USA’s double ice hockey gold medal-clinching campaign at the Milan-Cortina Olympic Games has certainly inspired other national teams to follow their success. The next major national assignment is the World Baseball Classic and its star pitcher Paul Skenes is definitely motivated.
The Pittsburgh Pirates starter got his first Spring Training outing of the season on Wednesday. He pitched 2.1 innings of one-run ball with four walks and four strikeouts in 53 pitches. This will be Skenes’ only start before the World Baseball Classic.
The former U.S. Air Force Academy pitcher is looking to replicate the entire American contingent’s 12 gold medal-winning effort at the Olympics. He spoke to reporters after his start on Wednesday, sending a clear message to rest of the 19 teams set to take part in the WBC.
“Winning gold is the biggest thing,” he said. “Yeah, men’s hockey, women’s hockey, all the other golds that we won in the Olympics. We’re America, we’ve got to assert our dominance over everybody else. That’s what we do. It’s going to be fun.
“USA wins, it’s what we do. Got to keep it going.”
Skenes will lead the rotation alongside Tarik Skubal, Logan Webb and Matthew Boyd. The American lineup is also star studded with captain Aaron Judge, Cal Raleigh, Alex Bregman, Bobby Witt Jr., Gunnar Henderson and Bryce Harper among others.
They clearly start as favorites to win the championship. Other contenders include Team Dominican Republic and the defending champions Team Japan.
Paul Skenes Looking to Make Two Starts Count for Team USA Count
Paul Skenes is reportedly slated to start two games for Team USA. He is keen on making a big impact to improve their chances at the gold medal.
“Whichever game I’m pitching in, it doesn’t really matter,” Skenes told reporters on Wednesday. “Just want to win gold.”
The United States’ will take on Brazil (March 6), Great Britain (March 7), Mexico (March 9) and Italy (March 10) in the pool stage. Tarik Skubal will reportedly start just one game in the tournament and Logan Webb is also expected to start two games like Skenes. That composition will likely allow Skenes to start an important game like Mexico and come back later in the knockout stages.
