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Skubal, who made his World Baseball Classic debut in the United States' victory over Great Britain on Saturday, may end up pitching for the team again after previously planning to only make one appearance, Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports.
Skubal allowed a leadoff home run to Nate Eaton but righted the ship and didn't allow any other runs across three innings of work while striking out five. The lefty logged 41 pitches, and following the 9-1 United States win, he acknowledged the emotions of the tournament may keep him around a bit longer. "I was pretty committed to making a start and getting back to camp," Skubal said. "Things have changed, obviously, that's why I'm going to have some conversations to try and figure out a plan for me." If Skubal does pitch again in the WBC, it could come in a quarterfinal matchup for the U.S. on either March 13 or 14, though nothing official has been announced. The Detroit ace would likely have a similar workload in a potential second WBC outing as he gears up for the start of the regular season.
Skubal is set to start for the United States against Great Britain on Saturday in the World Baseball Classic, which will be his only start in the tournament, Maria Guardado of MLB.com reports.
It was previously reported that Skubal would appear only once during WBC pool play, and that start is now scheduled for the United States' second game. The southpaw should have an advantage against a Great Britain squad that doesn't have a ton of high-end MLB talent, but it remains to be seen how long he'll be asked to go into the contest. Following the WBC, Skubal is slated to return to Detroit's camp as he prepares for his Opening Day start against the Padres on March 26.
Skubal allowed two hits across two scoreless innings in Monday's Grapefruit League game against the Twins. He struck out four.
The reigning back-to-back American League Cy Young Award winner picked up where he left off last season as he breezed through two strong innings on 31 pitches. Skubal has already been named Detroit's Opening Day starter, so his workload will likely be closely managed the rest of spring training as he gears up for that contest. The southpaw is also scheduled to play for the United States in the World Baseball Classic, though he only plans on making one start during pool play next week before returning to camp, Jason Beck of MLB.com reports. That should leave Skubal fairly fresh heading into Opening Day after he made 31 regular-season starts each of the last two years.
Manager A.J. Hinch announced Wednesday that Skubal will draw the starting nod for the Tigers' Opening Day game March 26 versus the Padres in San Diego, Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press reports.
While his long-term future in Detroit remains murky, Skubal will once again head into the 2026 campaign as the staff ace coming off back-to-back AL Cy Young Awards. The Tigers may look to manage Skubal's innings during the Grapefruit League after he logged a combined 216 frames between the regular season and playoffs in 2025, but he should be fully ramped up and ready to handle a standard workload by the time Opening Day arrives.
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