Team USA is one win away from returning to the World Baseball Classic final.
However, they have to face their toughest challenge yet, as the Dominican Republic is a behemoth of an offensive team.
At least Mark DeRosa has a huge ace up his sleeve, both figuratively and literally, in Paul Skenes, who’ll take the mound for the semifinal.
As shown by DraftKings on X, Skenes has been utterly dominant against his Dominican colleagues.
Paul Skenes’ dominance against Dominican hitters could be the tipping point for Team USA
All in all, Dominican hitters have gone a combined 3-for-27 against the Pirates’ hurler for a .111 batting average.
Only Julio Rodriguez has been able to get to Skenes, going 3-for-6.
Other than that, he’s kept the likes of Juan Soto (0-3), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (0-2), Junior Caminero (0-3) and Ketel Marte (0-5) under wraps. He has yet to face Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado, though.
The matchup with Team USA will be the first time in the event that the Dominican Republic won’t be overwhelmingly favored. Then again, they have arguably the most stacked offense in the game.
According to Yahoo Sports, Skenes will have a 75-80 pitch count in the semifinal. He already dominated against Mexico, tossing four scoreless innings and striking out seven with one hit and one walk.
He’s coming off an NL Cy Young campaign in which he led the league in ERA, so if there’s anyone who can finally tame the Dominican offense, it should be him.