Paul Skenes Hyped For WBC After Team USA Olympic Wins
Paul Skenes was inspired by Team USA's epic run of gold medals in the 2026 Winter Olympics. Now, it's almost his turn to get one in the World Baseball Classic. Team USA will try to get revenge and win back the gold medal soon, and they've brought out the big guns like Skenes. The Pittsburgh Pirates ace is itching to get out there and win.
Paul Skenes is ready for a gold medal
The men's and women's hockey teams took home gold and drew most of the headlines. Team USA, though, collectively won more gold medals than almost any other nation. It was all quite inspiring to Paul Skenes, who will be competing in the World Baseball Classic.
"Winning gold is the biggest thing," the pitcher said via ESPN. "Yeah, men's hockey, women's hockey, all the other golds that we won in the Olympics. We're America, we've got to assert our dominance over everybody else. That's what we do. It's going to be fun."
Skenes said the onus is now on the baseball team to keep it going after an impressive Olympics. Norway had the most overall medals and the most gold medals, but the United States was right behind and nabbed gold in some of the biggest sports.
Skenes added that he's not worried about which games he starts and that he just wants to win gold. The expectation is that he will make two starts throughout the tournament.
The pitcher also said he's excited to get with some of the best pitchers in the sport to learn from them. "There's going to be two, two-and-a-half weeks to pick guys' brains," the ace said. "Talking to them is great but seeing how they operate is another thing. So, aside from winning a gold medal, it would be a pretty good reward for doing that."
Skenes, a former Air Force recruit, wants to win the gold to honor the military. "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," he added.
Team USA brought out the big guns
Team USA fell short in 2023 at the World Baseball Classic after Shohei Ohtani struck out then-teammate Mike Trout to close an epic duel for the title. Now, the Americans are back with major reinforcements.
Paul Skenes is a newcomer, as is Aaron Judge, the captain. With those two and Tarik Skubal on board, the Americans have both reigning Cy Young winners and the reigning American League MVP on the roster.
They are joined by:
- David Bednar
- Matt Boyd
- Mason Miller
- Clayton Kershaw
- Logan Webb
- Cal Raleigh (MVP runner-up in 2025)
- Will Smith
- Alex Bregman
- Gunnar Henderson
- Bryce Harper
- Bobby Witt Jr.
- Byron Buxton
- Pete Crow-Armstrong
- Kyle Schwarber
Those aren't all the stars on the roster. Team USA is gunning for gold by bringing in some of the best in the sport, many of whom did not play in the 2023 tournament. Japan will bring back its host of stars (Shohei Ohtani, Roki Sasaki, Munetaka Murakami, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and others) to defend its crown.
The Dominican Republic can't be ignored, either. They have talents like Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Ketel Marte, Julio Rodriguez, Juan Soto, Fernando Tatis Jr., and Junior Caminero. Venezuela has plenty of top-shelf MLB talent, too.
It should be an exciting tournament, but Team USA, thanks to Paul Skenes, Aaron Judge, and others, is favored to win. Per ESPN, the Americans are +100. The reigning champs are +320 to win the tournament again. The Dominican Republic is +370. No one else has odds better than +1300 (Puerto Rico).
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