{"id":202237,"date":"2026-03-03T12:58:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T12:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/team-usa-stars-ready-to-win-wbc-for-the-greatest-country-in-the-world-usa-today\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T12:58:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T12:58:09","slug":"team-usa-stars-ready-to-win-wbc-for-the-greatest-country-in-the-world-usa-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/team-usa-stars-ready-to-win-wbc-for-the-greatest-country-in-the-world-usa-today\/","title":{"rendered":"Team USA stars ready to win WBC for the 'greatest country in the world' – USA Today"},"content":{"rendered":"

MESA, AZ \u2014 Chicago Cubs<\/a> center fielder Pete-Crow Armstrong<\/a> can\u2019t wait to catch up again with former roommate Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr.<\/a>, and hang out with one of his heroes, Philadelphia Phillies<\/a> first baseman Bryce Harper.<\/a>
San Francisco Giants ace Logan Webb<\/a> plans to hang around as much as possible with three-time Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw<\/a>, picking his brain until the future Hall of Famer gets tired of him.
Cubs third baseman Alex Bregman<\/a>, who is hosting a few of his new teammates this week, including Boston Red Sox slugger Roman Anthony, wants to spend as much time as possible with New York Yankees three-time MVP Aaron Judge<\/a>.
The World Baseball Classic is back<\/a>, with Team USA arriving over the weekend in Arizona, joined by four other national teams. The Americans will gather for a team dinner and have their first practice Monday in Scottsdale with exhibition games Tuesday against the San Francisco Giants and Wednesday against the Colorado Rockies before flying to Houston for the first round of the WBC.
They have assembled easily their finest team in WBC history, loaded with future Hall of Famers, MVPs, Cy Young winners and All-Stars. It\u2019s gold medal or bust after winning the WBC in 2017, but losing to Japan in the finals in 2023.
While Team USA has had difficulty attracting pitchers and a few stars like Aaron Judge in the past, this time had virtually everyone begging to play for them.
No one took a bigger financial gamble than the Detroit Tigers<\/a>‘ two-time Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal<\/a>. He\u2019s in line for a historic $400-million-plus contract as a free agent after the season, and everyone would have understood if he declined. He originally planned to decline, but after talking to several of his close friends who were playing, relented and signed up.
\u201cIt says a lot about him as a competitor,” =Crow-Armstrong tells USA TODAY Sports. \u201cIt\u2019s sick that he wants do this on his walk year. His mound presence is how a lead singer would command a crowd or a really good speaker would command the room.
\u201cIt\u2019s almost like everybody goes silent when he takes the mound.”
Still, as much as Skubal is looking forward to representing the United States, he also realizes he needs to be smart about the potential risk. He informed Team USA he will pitch just once for perhaps two or three innings, likely March 7 against Great Britain, and return to the Tigers\u2019 camp in Lakeland, FL.
\u201cI\u2019d love to do the whole thing, it\u2019s just a timing thing,” Skubal told reporters in Florida. \u201cIt kills me. I think I got the best of both worlds, getting a start, being in the room, learning from all those guys, but also by being healthy and pitching this season.”
Pitching just once was a perfect compromise between the Tigers, Team USA, and his agent, Scott Boras.
So, will Boras be traveling to Houston to keep an eye on Skubal?
\u201cNo,” he told USA TODAY Sports, \u201cI\u2019ll be home on my couch watching with a knot in my stomach.”
Team USA could have had former MVP Mookie Betts and All-Star outfielder Kyle Tucker, too, but with their wives soon due with babies, they stayed home. Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman, who has played in the past for Team Canada, is staying back in Dodgers camp, too. So is New York Yankees first baseman\/outfielder Cody Bellinger, who declined an invitation, though teammate Paul Goldschmidt ended up on the team.
Minnesota Twins starter Taj Bradley elected to stay put to be with his new teammates instead of joining Team Mexico, with Jose Urquidy, Cody Ponce, Aaron Sanchez, Ramon Urias and Isaac Paredes also not playing for Mexico. Team Puerto Rico will be without Houston Astros<\/a> third baseman Carlos Correa and New York Mets<\/a> shortstop Francsico Lindor, while Venezuela is missing second baseman Jose Altuve.
And while four-time MVP Shohei Ohtani plans to play for Team Japan again, there won\u2019t be a sequel to the 2023 WBC when he struck out USA captain Mike Trout to win the gold. He will strictly be a DH and won\u2019t pitch.
\u201cNow it\u2019s time for us to go out there and change that script,\u201d said Judge, USA\u2019s team captain. \u201cI\u2019m excited, just like I was the day I committed. It\u2019s going to be fun. The boys are pumped up, and it\u2019s time to go to work.\u201d
The WBC experience will be emotional for players like Pittsburgh Pirates<\/a> ace Paul Skenes and Boston Red Sox lety Garrett Whitlock. Skenes spent two years as a cadet at the Air Force Academy<\/a> and still wants to serve his country when his playing career ends. Whitlock\u2019s father, Larry, served in Vietnam, and he cried when Whitlock broke the news to him.
\u201cThat\u2019s why it\u2019s such an honor to me,\u201d Whitlock told reporters in Fort Myers, FL on Saturday. \u201cForget the stage and everything else, but just to represent the country. I\u2019ll never be able to sacrifice like so many of our service members do. But it\u2019s the chance hopefully we can bring them some joy.\u201d
Skenes, who plans to start twice in the tournament along with Webb, says he wouldn\u2019t miss the WBC for all of the world.
\u201cWe\u2019re doing it to represent the men and women that are fighting for us,” Skenes said this winter, \u201calong with many other things that make this country the greatest country in the world. That\u2019s what I believe. That\u2019s why I wanted to serve, why I went to the Air Force Academy.”
For Harper, who last represented USA in international competition when he was 16 years old, says he will wear No. 24 in the tournament, the number he world back in 2009 when he still was a teenager.
\u201cThere\u2019s nothing like it,” Harper told reporters in Clearwater, FL. \u201cYou can try to think that there is something like it, but there\u2019s not. Being able to wear the colors of your country and represent something so much bigger than yourself \u2026
\u201cI\u2019m really, really looking forward to this. We\u2019ve got a really good group of players.”
You know the team loaded when Phillies shortstop Trea Turner, one of USA\u2019s heroes in the 2023 WBC, declined an invitation when told he would have had to shift to second base. And Trout, who perhaps wouldn\u2019t have been cleared for insurance anyway, wasn\u2019t even invited.
Certainly, there will be nerves by GMs watching their pitchers perform in the event. It really isn\u2019t a concern for position players, but pitchers musth ramp up quicker than normal, and thrown into an environment that replicates the postseason, if not greater.
\u201cIt\u2019s a great event,” Buster Posey, Giants president of baseball operations, said earlier this spring. \u201cBut we\u2019ve also seen over the years that it can derail some pitchers, just because there\u2019s no way to replicate getting yourself ready for what\u2019s essentially a playoff baseball atmosphere in early March.\u201d
Still, injury risk or not, or leaving their teammates behind, players absolutely love the event.
\u201cThe WBC is great, man,” said San Diego Padres All-Star third baseman Manny Machado, who\u2019s playing for the Dominican Republic. \u201cI\u2019m super excited. I think everybody in the world is waiting for it. \u2026 It\u2019s just such a cool event. You\u2019re playing for not just your country, not for the fans, but the people in their countries and across the world.
\u201cI get goosebumps just talking about it because it\u2019s such a special event.”
The WBC is not only for national pride, but it breaks up the monotony of spring training. Players will stay at five-star hotels with their families, play in a postseason environment, and catch up with long-time friends.
\u201cI think just wearing the stars and stripes across your chest is special for players,” said Cubs starter Matthew Boyd, who will pitch for USA. \u201cAnd then listening to the national anthem with the flag on your shoulder, that\u2019s the highest honor.”
Witt, who had only three plate appearances in the last WBC, is the starting shortstop this time around, and says he can\u2019t wait to play alongside Crow-Armstrong and infielder Brice Turang, his teammates from a U18 team.
\u201cEven before they asked if I\u2019d play,\u2019\u2019 Witt said, \u201cthe answer was yes. I loved the event just being around the guys. It was unreal.”
Now, for the first time since they were teenagers and roommates, Witt and Crow-Armstrong will be reunited on the same USA team. They were merely high school prospects at the time, manhandling the competition. Today, they are All-Stars, with Witt, 25, already establishing himself as one of the finest players in the game.
\u201cI immediately looked up to Bob,” Crow-Armstrong told USA TODAY Sports, \u201cand to this day he\u2019s probably the best player I\u2019ve ever seen. It\u2019s not even close. And it\u2019s so cool what he is doing now. \u2026
\u201cI just feel very lucky that I get to experience something like this. I\u2019m ready to play some real meaningful baseball and just wear those colors. I mean, I haven\u2019t done it for some years, and getting to do it at the highest stage if going to be special.”
Yet, considering that Crow-Amstrong already has a strong friendship with Witt, there is one star he\u2019d love hanging out with during this two-week tournament.
\u201cBryce Harper is the guy I\u2019m looking forward to the most,\u2019\u2019 Crow-Armstrong said. \u201cJust being around people who have coached him or played with him, I\u2019m just very excited to see him go about his business.
\u201cHe\u2019s been at the peak of everything for the longest time. He\u2019s done it it in a very authentic way, in a very real way. He\u2019s done a lot of good things for the game, but just from a behind-the-scenes perspective, I\u2019m excited to see him.\u2019\u2019
Now, for the first time, they are all teammates, representing their country and going for the gold.
\u201cI\u2019m super proud of being an American,” said Bregman, playing on his sixth USA team. \u201cI take great pride in being from the United States. \u2026 It\u2019s wearing the Stars and Stripes. You become a family and a team really quickly. Even though we\u2019re all in different camps right now, [Monday] we\u2019ll be in the same clubhouse.
\u201cThat\u2019s the coolest part of it is the bond that\u2019s created right away when you step foot in that locker room and know what\u2019re you\u2019re representing and what you\u2019re playing for.\u2019\u2019
Follow Nightengale on X: @Bnightengale<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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MESA, AZ \u2014 Chicago Cubs center fielder Pete-Crow Armstrong can\u2019t wait to catch up again with former roommate Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., and hang out with one of his heroes, Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper.San Francisco Giants ace Logan Webb plans to hang around as much as possible with three-time Cy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":202238,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-202237","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202237"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202237\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/202238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}