Paul Skenes and Pittsburgh Pirates fans have been trying to figure out what's wrong with the reigning NL Cy Young winner all year long. Bad luck has had something to do with it — his 3.32 FIP is much closer to career norms than his 3.91 ERA — but how does that explain his worrying drop in fastball velocity? Why has his expected ERA jumped more than half a run, from 2.65 in 2025 to 3.27 this year?
Skenes has apparently found his own preferred explanation: It's the World Baseball Classic's fault. The righty, who began his college career at Air Force before transferring to LSU, was thrilled to compete for Team USA this spring, allowing just one run in 8.1 innings across two starts. Unfortunately, he thinks that experience came at a pretty steep cost.
"There are a lot of other factors, so I don’t want to put everything on that," he told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Colin Beazley on Monday. "But I feel like [pitching in the WBC] was kind of the root of it a little bit ... Unfortunately, I don't think I'm the only one."
On the surface, it's hardly ridiculous to suggest that having to ramp up to game intensity weeks earlier than usual might have an affect on a pitcher's performance, and particularly their velocity. There's just one problem: If the WBC really did make it more difficult to prepare for a long MLB season, why did so many other Major League stars not seem to have any problems?
Plenty of MLB stars have thrived this year after playing in the 2026 WBC
Skenes isn't the only WBC participant to fall short of expectations this season. But there are many, many more who took part in the event and then ... looked exactly like themselves once the big-league campaign got underway.
Bryce Harper, Philadelphia Phillies
- 2026 WBC numbers: .624 OPS, 1 HR in eight games
- 2026 MLB numbers: .271/.382/.491, 28 HR, 85 RBI
Harper is among the most dedicated stars around when it comes to playing on the international stage. And contrary to Skenes, if anything the WBC seems to have helped him regain his prior form at the plate this year: After an offseason of questions about whether he was still an elite player, Harper has been a force at the heart of the Phillies lineup all year long.
Pete Crow-Armstrong, Chicago Cubs
- 2026 WBC numbers: .965 OPS, 2 HR in six games
- 2026 MLB numbers: .280/.371/.578, 45 HR, 38 SB
PCA was among the best American hitters at the tournament this spring. And all he did once the regular season began was blossom into arguably the best position player in the sport, threatening to join the 40/40 club while almost certainly capturing his first NL MVP Award.
Junior Caminero, Tampa Bay Rays
- 2026 WBC numbers: 1.259 OPS, 3 HR in six games
- 2026 MLB numbers: .277/.363/.529, 41 HR, 97 RBI
Like PCA, Caminero also excelled in his first taste of WBC action, helping lead a dominant Dominican Republic lineup. Also like PCA, he used that as a springboard to a breakout MLB campaign, powering the Tampa Bay Rays to the best record in the AL while competing for MVP votes.
Cristopher Sanchez, Philadelphia Phillies
- 2026 WBC numbers: 4.26 ERA, 12 SO, 6.1 IP
- 2026 MLB numbers: 2.93 ERA, 221 SO, 200 IP
OK, you might be saying, but those are position players. Surely the abbreviated offseason has more of an effect on pitchers, who require more buildup to prepare for the rigors of 162 games? That may well be true, but it certainly didn't hurt Sanchez, who has solidified himself as one of the very best pitchers in the NL amidst another sensational season in Philadelphia.
Nolan McLean, New York Mets
- 2026 WBC numbers: 5.87 ERA, 8 SO, 7.2 IP
- 2026 MLB numbers: 3.18 ERA, 189 SO, 172.2 IP
McLean was a pretty controversial selection for Team USA, given his youth and relative inexperience (not to mention his importance to the 2026 Mets). He also didn't pitch particularly well in the WBC. But he's since grown into the ace New York was hoping for, and has clearly shown no ill effects from changing his preseason routine.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Los Angeles Dodgers
- 2026 WBC numbers: 2.70 ERA, 7 SO, 6.2 IP
- 2026 MLB numbers: 2.51 ERA, 178 SO, 179 IP
Yamamoto shouldered a huge workload while helping the Dodgers capture another World Series title in 2025, then anchored Japan's rotation in the WBC that spring. All he's done since is once again be the rock for Los Angeles' pitching staff, pretty much the only starter that hasn't dealt with some sort of injury. If the WBC really punished pitchers, you'd expect it to show up here, given how heavy a burden Yamamoto's carried of late.
Mason Miller, San Diego Padres
- 2026 WBC numbers: 0.00 ERA, 10 SO, 4 IP
- 2026 MLB numbers: 1.21 ERA, 123 SO, 67 IP
Sure, you probably get the point by now, but we just had to throw this one in here anyway. Miller was literally unhittable in the WBC, only allowing two walks across his four innings of work while striking out more than half the batters he faced. He then went on to put together one of the great seasons by a closer in MLB history.
Why the WBC can't be to blame for Paul Skenes' disappointing 2026
I certainly don't think Skenes is lying, or being willfully disingenuous. I'm sure it was disruptive for him to shape his offseason program around the WBC, and I fully believe that he's spoken to other pitchers around the league who similarly feel like they started the year off on the wrong foot and were never able to course-correct.
But that sort of anecdata is hardly conclusive. Skenes might think that the WBC is the reason why his velocity dipped, or why he was less effective with his offspeed pitches this year. But there are several other explanations that seem as or more likely, starting with the fact that it's really, really hard for any pitcher to throw as hard as Skenes does over a starter's workload for multiple years.
If the WBC really were an epidemic for pitchers, you'd expect there to be a far clearer pattern than what we've actually seen. Instead, it's looks like a mixed bag, one that won't offer much comfort to Pirates fans.
Add us as a preferred source on Google