Team USA sets its star-studded rotation for World Baseball Classic

PHOENIX -- Team USA has set its star-studded rotation for the World Baseball Classic.

Manager Mark DeRosa said Monday that Logan Webb, Tarik Skubal, Paul Skenes and Nolan McLean are lined up to start the first four games of pool play, in that order.

Webb will get the ball for Team USA’s first game against Brazil at Daikin Park in Houston on Friday. Skubal will make his lone WBC start against Great Britain on Saturday. Fellow reigning Cy Young winner Skenes will follow against Mexico on March 9.

McLean is penciled in to face Italy on March 10, though the Mets' right-hander was absent from Team USA’s first workout at the Giants’ player development center at Papago Park on Monday due to an illness. DeRosa said McLean was still at the Mets' camp in Port St. Lucie, Fla., and will be reevaluated in the coming days.

“He’s been a little under the weather down at Port St. Lucie,” DeRosa said. “He’s down there right now, and we’ll kind of reassess that day to day.”

Between Skubal, Skenes and Webb -- a decorated trio that has combined to earn three Cy Young Awards and six All-Star nods -- the American squad will enter the WBC with the most talented starting rotation it's ever had for the triennial tournament.

“They change the game for us, no question about it,” DeRosa said. “That’s no disrespect to the other guys. First off, you want the guys who want to be in the room. If you get them on the phone and they’re kind of wanting to walk through everything and have their schedule laid out for them, this is not the tournament for them.

“I think for me, it was just honest conversations with guys throughout the year. Skenes was easy, which made my life a lot easier. Skubal was a slow play. The entire year, I checked in with him probably every two months. [Pitching coach] Andy Pettitte was checking in with him. Logan, I tried to get in ‘23, and he got a contract extension that offseason. Everybody has their different story about why they’re on this team and the phone calls that we had.”

Skubal, an impending free agent, will return to Tigers camp after making one start in pool play, though Skenes and Webb have both said they intend to stick around for the duration of the tournament and try to help Team USA win the WBC for the first time since 2017.

While Skubal will be one and done, Team USA captain Aaron Judge said he’s still happy the Tigers' ace was willing to suit up for the red, white and blue and make himself available to pitch in a contract year.

“It speaks volumes, definitely, because of what’s ahead of him,” Judge said. “He’s got the two-time Cy Young, back to back. This guy is about to make half a billion dollars here in the next offseason. For him to put it all on the line for his country and come out here and show up for us -- it may just be one game, but there’s a risk with everything you do. For him to take that risk and come out here and be with us, the boys love it. They were hyped in the clubhouse. It means a lot. Maybe we can squeeze another game out of him. I don’t know. We’ll see.”

Skenes will get one final WBC tune-up on Tuesday, when he’s slated to face the Giants in an exhibition game at Scottsdale Stadium. Matthew Boyd, Gabe Speier, David Bednar, Griffin Jax and Mason Miller are also expected to pitch in the game.