The Team USA pitching staff got a massive infusion of talent on Thursday, as it was revealed that Tarik Skubal, Mason Miller, Logan Webb and David Bednar plan to suit up in the 2026 World Baseball Classic.
The U.S. will now have both 2025 Cy Young Award winners in its starting rotation for the upcoming WBC: Skubal and Paul Skenes.
Skubal, the Tigers' ace southpaw, is the back-to-back reigning American League Cy Young Award winner. Skenes, who was already on the WBC team, just won his first career Cy Young Award in the National League for the Pirates. And Webb may not have a Cy Young on his mantle, but he's come close, finishing in the top six in the NL voting each of the past three years.
Add that to a bullpen now led by Miller, the Padres fireman who's arguably MLB's most overpowering reliever, and Bednar (2.30 ERA, 27 saves for Pirates and Yankees in 2025) and Team USA is putting together a loaded pitching staff as it looks to reclaim the World Baseball Classic championship.
Skubal went 13-6 with a 2.21 ERA and 241 strikeouts for Detroit in 2025, after going 18-4 with a 2.39 ERA and 228 strikeouts in 2024.
Webb is coming off another excellent season in 2025, when he went 15-11 with a 3.22 ERA over an MLB-best 207 innings, the third straight year he's led his league in innings.
Miller posted a 2.63 ERA in 60 relief appearances in 2025 with 104 strikeouts in 61 2/3 innings. His fastball averaged 101.2 mph, and he was the only pitcher in the Majors to break the 104 mph mark with a pitch.
Bednar emerged as a rock for the Yankees after coming over from the Pirates at the 2025 Trade Deadline. In five postseason games as the team's closer, the veteran right-hander went 1-1 with two saves and a 1.50 ERA.
The Team USA lineup for 2026 is stacked, too, led by superstars like team captain Aaron Judge, Cal Raleigh and Bobby Witt Jr.
The U.S. won the World Baseball Classic in 2017, but it finished as the runner-up to Japan in the last tournament in 2023.
Team USA plays its first game of the 2026 WBC against Brazil in Pool B on March 6 at 8 p.m. ET at Houston's Daikin Park.