NEW YORK (AP) — Paul Skenes is ready to take on the world.
The Pittsburgh Pirates ace announced Tuesday that he will join Team USA when the World Baseball Classic returns next March.
“Being around the best players in the game for three, four weeks, however long it is — unbelievable opportunity,” Skenes said at Citi Field before the Pirates played the New York Mets. “And I just can’t wait to learn.”
The reigning National League Rookie of the Year — who spent two years at the Air Force Academy before transferring to LSU — is expected to be near the top of the rotation for the Americans, who are coming off a runner-up finish to Japan at the 2023 WBC.
Skenes is confident the U.S. will have another good team and he's willing to help recruit other major league stars.
“I’ll do whatever I have to do to win gold,” he said.
Asked if he thinks his commitment to Team USA could convince other elite pitchers to participate, Skenes said: “That's the goal.” But he added he's “not too worried about any of that stuff.”
Pirates manager Don Kelly said the club isn't overly concerned about Skenes risking injury by ramping up intensity on the mound earlier than usual, at a time in the year when most big league players are gearing up gradually at spring training.
“I think anytime these pitchers go out there, there’s always concern and health risk and whatever," Kelly said. "But you get to see the way that he works and the way that he prepares, and how diligent he is in that — he’s going to do everything that he can to be prepared to go out there and stay as healthy as he can.”
Skenes, who turns 23 this month, was the top pick in the 2023 amateur draft. The 6-foot-6 right-hander is 14-7 with a 2.16 ERA in 32 career starts — the lowest ERA in the majors since his debut on May 11, 2024. He is 3-4 with a 2.63 ERA this season.
Skenes gave up one run in six innings Monday night against the Mets and exited with the lead before Pittsburgh's bullpen gave it away late in a 4-3 loss.
The 2026 WBC will be held from March 5-17 in Tokyo, Houston, Miami and San Juan, Puerto Rico. Skenes and the rest of Team USA begin pool play in Houston from March 6-11.
Skenes has already spoken a little bit to Pirates teammates who have played in the WBC.
“Basically, (they) said it’s the coolest thing they’ve ever experienced. So, looking forward to it and looking forward to having my own experiences,” he said.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes throws during the second inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets, Monday, May 12, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes throws during the second inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets, Monday, May 12, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
RHO, Italy (AP) — No ice is colder and harder than speedskating ice. The precision it takes has meant that Olympic speedskaters have never competed for gold on a temporary indoor rink – until the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games.
In the pursuit of maximum glide and minimum friction, Olympic officials brought on ice master Mark Messer, a veteran of six previous Olympic speedskating tracks and the ice technician in charge of the Olympic Oval in Calgary, Canada — one of the fastest tracks in the world with over 300 records.
Messer has been putting that experience to work one thin layer of ice at a time since the end of October at the new Speed Skating Stadium, built inside adjacent trade fair halls in the city of Rho just north of Milan.
“It’s one of the biggest challenges I’ve had in icemaking,’’ Messer said during an interview less than two weeks into the process.
If Goldilocks were a speedskater, hockey ice would be medium hard, for fast puck movement and sharp turns. Figure skating ice would be softer, allowing push off for jumps and so the ice doesn’t shatter on landing. Curling ice is the softest and warmest of all, for controlled sliding.
For speedskating ice to be just right, it must be hard, cold and clean. And very, very smooth.
“The blades are so sharp, that if there is some dirt, the blade will lose the edge,’’ Messer said, and the skater will lose speed.
Speedskater Enrico Fabris, who won two Olympic golds in Turin in 2006, has traded in his skates to be deputy sports manager at the speedskating venue in Rho. For him, perfect ice means the conditions are the same for all skaters — and then if it's fast ice, so much the better.
"It's more of a pleasure to skate on this ice,'' he said.
Messer’s first Olympics were in Calgary in 1988 — the first time speedskating was held indoors. “That gave us some advantages because we didn’t have to worry about the weather, wind blowing or rain,’’ he said. Now he is upping the challenge by becoming the first ice master to build a temporary rink for the Olympics.
Before Messer arrived in Italy, workers spent weeks setting up insulation to level the floor and then a network of pipes and rubber tubes that carry glycol — an antifreeze — that is brought down to minus 7 or minus 8 degrees Celsius (17.6 to 19.4 degrees Fahrenheit) to make the ice.
Water is run through a purification system — but it can’t be too pure, or the ice that forms will be too brittle. Just the right amount of impurities “holds the ice together,’’ Messer said.
The first layers of water are applied slowly, with a spray nozzle; after the ice reaches a few centimeters it is painted white — a full day’s work — and the stripes are added to make lanes.
“The first one takes about 45 minutes. And then as soon as it freezes, we go back and do it again, and again and again. So we do it hundreds of times,’’ Messer said.
As the ice gets thicker, and is more stable, workers apply subsequent layers of water with hoses. Messer attaches his hose to hockey sticks for easier spreading.
What must absolutely be avoided is dirt, dust or frost — all of which can cause friction for the skaters, slowing them down. The goal is that when the skaters push “they can go as far as possible with the least amount of effort,’’ Messer said.
The Zamboni ice resurfacing machine plays a key role in keeping the track clean, cutting off a layer and spraying water to make a new surface.
One challenge is gauging how quickly the water from the resurfacing machine freezes in the temporary rink.
Another is getting the ice to the right thickness so that the Zamboni, weighing in at six tons, doesn’t shift the insulation, rubber tubing or ice itself.
“When you drive that out, if there’s anything moving it will move. We don’t want that,’’ Messer said.
The rink got its first big test on Nov. 29-30 during a Junior World Cup event. In a permanent rink, test events are usually held a year before the Olympics, leaving more time for adjustments. “We have a very small window to learn,’’ Messer acknowledged.
Dutch speedskater Kayo Vos, who won the men’s neo-senior 1,000 meters, said the ice was a little soft — but Messer didn’t seem too concerned.
“We went very modest to start, now we can start to change the temperatures and try to make it faster and still maintain it as a safe ice,’’ he said.
Fine-tuning the air temperature and humidity and ice temperature must be done methodically — taking into account that there will be 6,000 spectators in the venue for each event. The next real test will be on Jan. 31, when the Olympians take to the ice for their first training session.
“Eighty percent of the work is done but the hardest part is the last 20 percent, where we have to try to find the values and the way of running the equipment so all the skaters get the same conditions and all the skaters get the best conditions,’’ Messer said.
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Serpentines are set on the ice of the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Workers clean the ice surface during a peed skating Junior World Cup and Olympic test event, in Rho, near Milan, Italy, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
