Paul Skenes’ stats vs. Dominican Republic lineup bode well for Team USA in WBC originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Paul Skenes against the Dominican Republic.
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There may be no more compelling baseball matchup in the entire season than Team USA’s ace taking on the D.R. in the World Baseball Classic on Sunday night. It’s the WBC semifinals, and whichever team wins this game will be favored to win the whole tournament.
The U.S. is giving the ball to Skenes, the Pittsburgh Pirates‘ superstar, a Cy Young winner in 2025, who was dominant in his first start of this tournament.
Skenes began his college career at Air Force, and he views this chance to play for the United States as a special one.
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To get the U.S. to the final, he’ll have to be at his best. The Dominican Republic has one of the best batting lineups ever assembled in baseball history.
MORE: Learn about Josh Naylor and Bo Naylor’s impact on Team Canada
Paul Skenes’ stats vs. Dominican Republic players
The good news is that Skenes is dominant against most of these guys.
These stats come from The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal.
He shares that six of the likely starters for the Dominican Republic are a combined 0-for-21 against Skenes — those six being Ketel Marte, Juan Soto, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Junior Caminero, Austin Wells and Geraldo Perdomo.
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Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. have never faced Skenes.
Julio Rodriguez has had success — 3-for-6 with two doubles.
That’s certainly more encouraging than the alternative for Skenes.
And yes, this is an incredible lineup full of great baseball players who know how to make adjustments. The story could be different on Sunday night.
It’s certainly going to be as compelling a baseball matchup as you’ll ever find this time of year.
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