It's always tricky to put together a rotation of starting pitchers for the World Baseball Classic.
The way it overlaps with spring training means that pitchers aren't necessarily stretched out yet. There's likely an increased risk of injury, at least if things aren't handled correctly. And so not every ace participates.
On Wednesday, we got a couple examples of how that plays out.
Two New York Mets pitchers, Clay Holmes and Nolan McLean, have been announced as being on the Team USA 2026 WBC roster.
Holmes and McLean are both solid right-handed pitchers. Neither would be considered the best in the sport, though.
Because of the oddities of pitching in this tournament, though, both were good enough to make the roster.
The U.S. Now has four starting pitchers committed:
- Paul Skenes
- Matthew Boyd
- Clay Holmes
- Nolan McLean
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Skenes is an all-world talent, of course, the reigning NL Cy Young winner. He'll be expected to get the ball in the biggest games, when possible.
Boyd had a journeyman early career before coming on more recently with the Cubs.
Holmes and McLean are solid options, too.
Other countries don't necessarily have the pitching depth of the U.S., anyway, so Team USA's rotation will still look good in a relative sense.
But it is a bit amusing to see a couple Mets, a team that doesn't even have a real ace of its own, make it onto this stage for the United States.
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