Pirates' Paul Skenes Debuts Groundbreaking MLB Advice at Top Showcase

This is Paul Skenes’ first World Baseball Classic, and he’s making the most of it. Last Monday, he twirled four shutout innings against Mexico in his stellar WBC debut, pitching USA to victory. On Sunday, he turned in another dominant outing versus the Dominican Republic, holding their loaded lineup to one run over 4 1/3 gutsy innings in USA’s tense 2-1 victory.

After the game, Skenes spoke with MLB Network about his outing and the tournament so far. “Going in, that’s all you can think about is just executing,” Skenes said. “I came out of the game, and Skubal was like, ‘That’s the best lineup you’re ever gonna pitch against’…Just going out there and executing.

That’s all you can do, that’s all you can focus on. ” Paul Skenes pitched Team USA to the #WorldBaseballClassic Championship game! The @Pirates ace joined Greg and Harold after the game to discuss tonight’s 2-1 win over Team Dominican Republic.

pic. twitter. com/agPd9oLiQE — MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) March 16, 2026 The reigning NL Cy Young winner added that he used everything in his arsenal against the DR and was “a little bit sloppy at times,” allowing a long solo homer to Junior Caminero in the second inning and getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the fourth.