{"id":210183,"date":"2026-05-09T01:08:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T01:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wbc-to-blame-for-mlb-injuries-paul-skenes-rolling-as-tarik-skubal-has-surgery-usa-today\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T01:08:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T01:08:00","slug":"wbc-to-blame-for-mlb-injuries-paul-skenes-rolling-as-tarik-skubal-has-surgery-usa-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wbc-to-blame-for-mlb-injuries-paul-skenes-rolling-as-tarik-skubal-has-surgery-usa-today\/","title":{"rendered":"WBC to blame for MLB injuries? Paul Skenes rolling as Tarik Skubal has surgery – USA Today"},"content":{"rendered":"

PHOENIX \u2014 Pittsburgh Pirates<\/a> Cy Young winner Paul Skenes<\/a> kept talking, but without the slightest hesitation, leaned over, rapping his knuckle against the adjoining locker, knocking on wood.
It\u2019s an uncomfortable subject, one that terrifies every pitcher, but it\u2019s a cold, cruel reality in the baseball world.
Pitchers get hurt. They require surgeries.
Seasons are ruined. Careers are shortened.
\u201cI\u2019ve never really had to deal with stuff like that,” Skenes tells USA TODAY Sports. \u201cIt\u2019s not something I like to think about.”
Yet, on the morning of Skenes\u2019 last start Wednesday against the Arizona Diamondbacks<\/a> before yielding just two baserunners in eight shutout innings, he was in his hotel room sending a text message to Detroit Tigers<\/a> two-time Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal<\/a>.
Skubal, his Team USA teammate in the World Baseball Classic, underwent elbow surgery in Los Angeles on Wednesday to clean out bone chips, which is expected to sideline him about two months.
\u201cI mean, it\u2019s unfortunate,” Skenes tells USA TODAY Sports. \u201cI don\u2019t know, I\u2019ve never really had to deal with stuff like that. But he has.
\u201cI\u2019ve seen his routine now, up close and personal in the WBC. He has a really good routine. He\u2019s going to come back, and he\u2019s going to be really good.”
Skubal\u2019s surgery comes just two weeks after Los Angeles Dodgers closer Edwin Diaz underwent elbow surgery to remove five \u201cloose bodies\u2019 in his elbow. Diaz pitched for Team Puerto Rico in the WBC.
\u201cI\u2019ve heard that a lot of pitchers probably have it,\u2019\u2019 Skenes says, \u201cbut who knows?”
It\u2019s no secret that as much as MLB embraces the WBC, and players love participating, there are risks. Maybe it\u2019s just a cruel coincidence, but the landscape is littered with pitchers who have been injured besides Skubal and Diaz, and others who have struggled in the early going.
\u2013 Chicago Cubs<\/a> closer Daniel Palencia, who closed out the WBC championship game for Venezuela, went on the injured list in April with a strained oblique.\u00a0
\u2013 Cubs starter Matthew Boyd went on the IL with a biceps strain in April, and then sustained a freak knee injury to his meniscus Wednesday playing with his kids.
\u2013 San Francisco Giants<\/a> ace Logan Webb, who is battling left knee discomfort, is 2-4 with a 5.06 ERA.
\u2013 Michael Lorenzen, who pitched for Italy, is 2-3 with a 6.09 ERA with the Colorado Rockies<\/a>.
\u2013 Taijuan Walker, who pitched for Mexico, went 1-4 with a 9.13 ERA before being released by the Philadelphia Phillies<\/a>.
There are others who pitched in the WBC who are doing quite well, including Ranger Suarez of the Boston Red Sox<\/a> (2-2, 2.77 ERA). Then there are Skenes and Arizona Diamondbacks starter Eduardo Rodriguez (3-0, 2.50), who are absolutely thriving, and looking like they could be teammates in July at the All-Star Game.
Rodriguez, who pitched in the WBC championship game for Venezuela in their victory over USA, is having the finest season of his career, with scouts believing they have never seen him pitch better in his 11-year career.
\u201cI feel great,” Rodriguez said. \u201cThe WCB didn\u2019t affect me at all. It\u2019s just like being in a spring training. You\u2019re a little more into it, but it feels like it. I throw as hard as I can in spring training, anyways, so I don\u2019t feel that much of a difference.”
And yes, physically, he feels perfectly fine.
\u201cI know there have been some injuries,\u2019\u2019 Rodriguez says, \u201cbut injuries are going to happen no matter what.\u2019\u2019
Skenes, who gave up five earned runs and couldn\u2019t get out of the first inning in his season debut, drawing concerns about a WBC hangover, says he feels perfectly fine, too. He\u2019s picking up right where he left off in last year\u2019s Cy Young season, with a 5-2 record and 2.36 ERA.
\u201cI think we did a really good job in the build-up,\u2019\u2019 Skenes said. \u201cA really good job in spring training. We kind of used the early season as king of a build-up. And I think we\u2019re still doing that.
\u201cSo, I\u2019m feeling good. I think we\u2019re in a good spot.”
Knock on wood.
Follow Nightengale on X: @Bnightengale<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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PHOENIX \u2014 Pittsburgh Pirates Cy Young winner Paul Skenes kept talking, but without the slightest hesitation, leaned over, rapping his knuckle against the adjoining locker, knocking on wood.It\u2019s an uncomfortable subject, one that terrifies every pitcher, but it\u2019s a cold, cruel reality in the baseball world.Pitchers get hurt. They require surgeries.Seasons are ruined. Careers are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":210184,"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-210183","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\/210183","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=210183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210183\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/210184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}