Tarik Skubal and the rest of the Team USA pitching exodus at the World Baseball Classic is a complete mess

Team USA is heading into Friday’s quarterfinal against Canada in Houston and the pitching staff looks nothing like it did when this thing started.

Tarik Skubal, Michael Wacha, Ryan Yarbrough, Matthew Boyd, and Clay Holmes have all left the tournament. Will Vest, Tyler Rogers, and Tim Hill were added from the reserve list. Joe Ryan is now on the roster replacing Clayton Kershaw and would be lined up to pitch in the championship game if Team USA gets there.

Joe Ryan will replace Clayton Kershaw on Team USA roster after the quarterfinal

Joe Ryan will replace Clayton Kershaw on Team USA's WBC roster after the quarterfinal, per @BNightengale

Ryan would be lined up to pitch in the championship game pic.twitter.com/7bTXPO1rVj

— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) March 12, 2026

The projected rotation at this point is Logan Webb in the quarterfinal, Paul Skenes in the semifinal, and Ryan in the final. Clay Holmes is the latest departure, with Mets manager Carlos Mendoza confirming Thursday that he is heading back to Spring Training.

The reasoning across the board has been the same. Starters need 15 to 20 innings to prepare for the regular season and the WBC simply does not give them that. It is a real issue and there is a legitimate argument for protecting arms.

Personally, I find it all to be extremely soft.

If you commit to play for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, then you should be there for the entire tournament. I really don’t understand why that’s so difficult for these guys to understand.

The Tarik Skubal situation was insane

Skubal made one pool play start and walked out the door. The backlash was immediate and it was deserved. Skubal consulted Mark DeRosa and his teammates before leaving, which is the right thing to do, but consulting the room and then still leaving is not exactly a badge of honor.

He had a chance to be a part of something and decided his Spring Training reps were more important. That is his right. It is also fair game for criticism. His response to that criticism did not help.

“It’s just not fair. But that’s part of the business. It’s part of the game. If they know me, though, and they know me on a personal level, and they know what my peers think of me, I don’t think it’s fair to say those things.”

See what I’m saying? None of this should be that difficult. Show up and be part of the team or do not show up at all.

The individual mindset from some of these guys is exactly why Team USA spent pool play sweating out results from other countries just to advance.

Vinnie Pasquantino hit three home runs against Mexico in the game that kept them alive, the first three-homer game in WBC history. Aaron Nola on the bump and Pasquantino at the dish literally proved to be more American than Tarik Skubal right now and it is not particularly close.

Italy beats Mexico 9-1, Aaron Nola dominates, and Team USA is through to the quarterfinals >>

Moving forward, this is the standard.

If you are on Team USA, be all the way in. No showing up for one game and dipping when it gets inconvenient. Look at guys like Cal Raleigh. That is what bought-in looks like. On the pitchers side, Paul Skenes is still here, too.

The fans watching this tournament around the world treat it like the biggest event in baseball because for them it is. The players representing this country should feel the same way the guys from every other country feel when they put that uniform on.

That goes for the manager too. Mark DeRosa getting guys work in while games are on the line is not acceptable when the other teams are running their best players in every situation. Team USA should not be voluntarily handicapping itself because someone needs their Spring Training reps.

The other countries are not doing that. Neither should we.

Logan Webb gets the ball Friday. 8 PM. FOX. Houston. Single elimination. The guys who actually want to be here are still here. Let’s see what they do with it.

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