Pittsburgh Pirates pitching superstar Paul Skenes gushed about the patriotic duty of representing Team USA at the World Baseball Classic.
“I’m from America, I love America,” Skenes, 23, told MLB Network on Monday, March 2. “I’ve seen the [World Baseball Classics] of the past, and there’s no bigger stage or no greater honor than wearing USA across your chest.”
Skenes, the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner, explained how his life nearly took a much different path.
“I went to the Air Force Academy for two years,” Skenes said. “I wanted to serve. I was intending on serving. Ended up transferring out to [Louisiana State University] and won a national championship there and did some cool stuff there.”
He continued, “There was a big part of me that was fully intent on serving in the military as a career after college. This isn’t serving, but it’s a pretty close second.”
Skenes’ comparison between baseball and military service drew plenty of debate on social media.
“Respect for respecting the country but it’s not close lol,” one person commented on the video.
Another said, “Playing baseball in an international tournament is not a close second to serving in the military.”
However, some argued that Skenes was simply being misunderstood.
“For the overreactors out there, he meant it as a close second for him as an experience, not generally speaking,” one person commented.
The World Baseball Classic features 20 international teams and runs from March 4 to March 17. Skenes is joined on the Team USA roster alongside superstars including Detroit Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal, New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge and Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh.
Skenes was motivated to pitch in the World Baseball Classic as a way to recognize the armed forces.
“That’s what we do it for,” Skenes told Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal last month. “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.”
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He added, “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. … 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 will make his World Baseball Classic debut when Team USA plays Mexico on Monday, March 9.
The pitcher said he and his teammates are extra motivated after the success of various Team USA athletes at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
“Men’s hockey, women’s hockey, other golds that we won in the Olympics. We’re America. We’ve got to assert our dominance over everybody else,” Skenes said in a video posted by DK Pittsburgh Sports on Wednesday, February 25. “That’s what we do. It’s going to be fun. USA wins. It’s what we do. Got to keep it going.”
