Could Skubal pitch again for Team USA? 'It's hard to walk away from that'

HOUSTON -- Tarik Skubal is leaving the door open to pitching another game for Team USA at the World Baseball Classic.

That wasn't the plan. The plan was supposed to be set in stone: Skubal would make one start against Great Britain in pool play, and then return to the Tigers to finish building up for the MLB regular season.

But after making his Team USA debut on Saturday in the United States' 9-1 win at Daikin Park, Skubal is contemplating reversing course. He hasn't made a decision yet, but pitching for his country once has made the back-to-back reigning Cy Young Award winner want to do it one more time.

"This is gonna be one of the tougher decisions I've made in my career so far," Skubal said after the game.

Skubal said he needs to have some conversations about whether he can keep pitching at the WBC -- conversations with the Tigers, with his agent, with his family.

"I'll make a decision here in the next couple days," he said.

But being a part of the Team USA clubhouse, and pitching in front of a packed stadium with a raucous atmosphere, is making it a lot harder for him to leave than he anticipated.

"It just changes your perspective a little bit, you know?" Skubal said. "And how proud I am to be an American and go out there and pitch and compete. [Thinking about] the people that make real sacrifices for me to play a kids' game. So we'll see."

Skubal pitched three innings against Great Britain, allowing one run -- a leadoff homer to Nate Eaton on the very first pitch he threw -- before settling down to strike out five. He threw 41 pitches, his fastball averaged just under 97 mph, and he got whiffs on half the swings against him.

He said his stuff felt sharp, his arm felt good, and he relishes pitching in the most competitive environments, even this early in the spring.

That one outing was supposed to send him right back to the Tigers, with the U.S. now 2-0 in the tournament. But Skubal's mindset going into his start Saturday was not the same as his mindset coming out of it.

"I didn't expect these types of emotions to run through my brain, or my thoughts to differ," Skubal said. "I was pretty committed to making a start and getting back to camp. Things have changed, obviously. That's why I'm gonna have some conversations and try to figure out a plan for me. But yeah, I don't know either way."

The speculation that Skubal could maybe … just maybe … pitch again started during an in-game interview with Ken Rosenthal on the TV broadcast.

Rosenthal asked Skubal if there was any chance he could pitch another game for Team USA. Skubal responded with a chuckle: "That's a tough question right now. I probably won't answer that one right now."

It seemed far-fetched at the time, but after the game, the possibility seemed more realistic. The U.S. would obviously love to have both Cy Young Award winners, Skubal and Paul Skenes, for as long as possible as they try to make a WBC championship run.

Skubal is probably the most dominant pitcher in the world, coming off a 2025 season in which he had 241 strikeouts and an American League-best 2.21 ERA.

But the 29-year-old southpaw is also entering his final year before free agency in 2026, and there are major career considerations on the line.

Skubal acknowledged that his emotions after pitching in Saturday's game were running too high for him to commit one way or the other, to staying with Team USA, or returning to Spring Training.

"I'm not in the right headspace to make a decision right now," he said.

If Skubal settles back on his original plan once he's cooled off, and this was his only start for the U.S., it will still have been worth it. He got to wear "USA" across his chest.

But there's a small opening that didn't seem like it was there only a few hours earlier. And as Skubal grapples with a complicated process, his U.S. teammates have been in his corner every step of the way.

"They've been extremely supportive of everything," Skubal said. "They totally get what's going on with my situation. It's unique. I've had these discussions with people, and most of it is, they're extremely supportive of me being here in the first place. And I've got a ton of respect for that. But it's just hard. When you get in these environments, and you get this team, it's hard to walk away from that."