The 2026 World Baseball Classic is scheduled for March 5 to March 17. Certainly, Team USA will be a top contender given its roster.
Essentially, the Americans have a power-laden roster that includes Aaron Judge, Cal Raleigh, Alex Bregman, Pete Crow-Armstrong, and Kyle Schwarber. On the pitching staff, there are Paul Skenes, Clayton Kershaw, Logan Webb, Mason Miller, and Gunner Henderson.
On Thursday, manager Mark DeRosa was asked specifically how Judge and Skenes are the drivers of the bus, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.
“The team we’ve been able to build, it’s a testament to the players wanting to do it, DeRosa said. “I’ve got to come out and say that.”
“When we had Aaron Judge from a position-player standpoint and Paul Skenes from a pitching standpoint, the two pillars were in place to build off.”
Aaron Judge and Paul Skenes were the sparks that lit the fire
Overall, DeRosa said it was Judge's interest that became the domino effect.
“This started back probably in spring training of last year,” DeRosa said. “Aaron (Judge) basically let it be known to Andy Pettitte that he was interested in doing it. I jumped on it right away and called Aaron. He was like, I’m 100 percent in. Obviously, you’ve got to hope they stay healthy the entire season and everything goes according to plan. But the biggest home runs happened early, with Aaron coming on board and wanting to lead and be a captain for the team. And then, one of the greatest calls ever was Paul Skenes.”
Eventually, Judge was named the team captain.
After that, once Skenes said yes, it was on.
“We’re going to start ’em. One thing Paul Skenes said when I talked to him in April was that he wanted to be surrounded by guys he could learn from as well. He was big about that. He wanted to be around guys he thought could help him get better. I called (Zack) Wheeler. Wheeler was in until he went down (in August when he underwent surgery to remove a blood clot in his right shoulder). I obviously called Tarik.”
Judge is the reigning two-time AL MVP. Meanwhile, Skenes is coming off winning the NL Cy Young Award.
Team USA is looking to win its first WBC since 2017. They reached the championship game in 2023, losing to Japan 3-2.
