Pirates ace Paul Skenes reveals patriotic reason for representing Team USA in the World Baseball Classic

"We're doing it to represent the men and women that are fighting for us, along with many other things that make this country the greatest country in the world. That puts it into perspective a little bit."

"I'm not suiting up in my OCPs (Operational Camouflage Pattern uniforms) again or my dress blues or anything like that, but it is going to be a very cool experience for me personally. For (team captain) Aaron Judge to answer the call, all the guys on the position-player side and then all the pitchers that we've gotten, it's this thing that's a lot bigger than any of us," Skenes said. 

The U.S. baseball team will try to follow the example of the Team USA men's and women's hockey teams, who both took home a gold medal over Canada. Skenes' presence on the team makes that possibility much more likely.

Skenes, in just his second big league season, won the National League Cy Young Award last season. In 32 games, Skenes had a 1.97 ERA and recorded 216 strikeouts in 187.2 innings pitched. 

Assuming the U.S. advances out of pool play, Skenes told The Athletic that he plans to make two starts in the tournament.