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Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes, who is playing for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, said that he is pitching to honor U.S. servicemen and women.
Skenes, 23, spent two years at the U.S. Air Force Academy before transferring to LSU and told Team USA manager Mark DeRosa that that’s why he chose to pitch.
“That’s what we do it for,” Skenes told The Athletic. “This is the greatest country in the world. That’s what I believe. That’s why I wanted to serve, why I went to the Air Force Academy. And those folks don’t get the recognition they deserve.
“We’re doing it to represent the men and women that are fighting for us, along with many other things that make this country the greatest country in the world. That puts it into perspective a little bit.”
Skenes said that for New York Yankees superstar Aaron Judge to participate in the tournament, along with many of the stars representing Team USA, means it has become a lot bigger than them.
“I’m not suiting up in my OCPs (Operational Camouflage Pattern uniforms) again or my dress blues or anything like that, but it is going to be a very cool experience for me personally. For (team captain) Aaron Judge to answer the call, all the guys on the position-player side and then all the pitchers that we’ve gotten, it’s this thing that’s a lot bigger than any of us,” Skenes said.
The U.S. baseball team will try to follow the example of the Team USA men’s and women’s hockey teams, who both took home a gold medal over Canada. Skenes’ presence on the team makes that possibility much more likely.
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Skenes, in just his second big league season, won the National League Cy Young Award last season. In 32 games, Skenes had a 1.97 ERA and recorded 216 strikeouts in 187.2 innings pitched.
Assuming the U.S. advances out of pool play, Skenes told The Athletic that he plans to make two starts in the tournament.
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