Paul Skenes’ first Team USA autograph has special World Baseball Classic tie

One of the benefits of exhibition events such as the World Baseball Classic or the All-Star Game is that players get to be fans. Removed from the heat of competition, stars more openly show their appreciation for the skills and talents of their peers, and every once in a while, we get an instantly iconic worlds-colliding moment.

Such was the case when Japanese legend Daisuke Matsuzaka approached Paul Skenes for an autograph.

Matsuzaka visited Pirates camp in Bradenton this week with a Team USA baseball cap in hand. According to Skenes, the former pitcher was the first person to have him autograph a Team USA hat, which seemed fitting given Matsuzaka’s dominance with Team Japan in the World Baseball Classic in 2006 and 2009.

Perhaps when all is said and done in the WBC, this meet-up will represent the passing of the torch to a new dynasty.

Paul Skenes autographed a Team USA cap for Daisuke Matsuzaka, but the moment could mean much more

Matsuzaka’s Japanese teams are the only back-to-back winners of the WBC to date, and Japan has dominated the competition, medaling in all five WBCs. Japan is also the reigning champion and, of course, boasts Dodgers superstars Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto among its loaded roster. Skenes’ Team USA, though, is the favorite to take home the crown in 2026.

Skenes represents a youth movement that has completely upended the Team USA roster. Just six players (David Bednar, Paul Goldschmidt, Clayton Kershaw, Kyle Schwarber, Will Smith, and Bobby Witt Jr.) remain from the American squad that finished second in 2023. Nearly half (14 players) of the Team USA roster is younger than 30, and six players, including Skenes, were born in 2000 or later. The next generation is already here.

Aside from the Team USA-Japan rivalry, Skenes could set his sights on Matsuzaka specifically. Daisuke holds the record for wins, starts, and strikeouts in the tournament, and given Skenes’ swing-and-miss stuff and ability to hold opponents scoreless, he should start rising up the leaderboard in those categories this summer.

At just 23 years old, Skenes will be around for at least a handful of WBCs (if he chooses to play and if his MLB team allows him). By the end of his run, he may find himself autographing more Team USA hats than anything else.