BRADENTON, Fla. — It was a simulated game but one that Paul Skenes treated like a warm-up for the World Baseball Classic, considering the lineup of hitters he was facing.

The Pittsburgh Pirates ace tossed three impressive innings against Oneil Cruz, Bryan Reynolds, Marcell Ozuna and Nick Gonzales before a cheering crowd Thursday at Pirate City.

“You want to face the best of the best, to see where you’re at and get an accurate representation of where you’re at going into the season,” Skenes told TribLive. “Nobody’s easy in the big leagues.”

Skenes showed why he was the unanimous National League Cy Young Award winner last season, when he went 10-10 with a 1.97 ERA, 0.95 WHIP and 216 strikeouts in 1872⁄3 innings over 32 starts. He focused on his fastball command, throwing strikes and getting ahead in counts in recording six strikeouts while allowing one hit and one walk.

“I thought he threw the ball really well,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said. “You can tell he’s having fun out there, especially going against Cruzy and Reynolds, Ozuna, Gonzo. I thought Paul threw the ball well. I thought we had some pretty good at-bats, too, off of him, especially this early in the spring, facing a guy like that.”

The 6-foot-6, 260-pound right-hander is ahead of his normal spring training pace in preparation for pitching for Team USA in the WBC against a pair of fellow participants and two All-Stars. Cruz will play for the Dominican Republic and Gonzales for Mexico, whereas Ozuna is a three-time All-Star and Reynolds a two-time selection.

“It’s important to see where you’re at,” Gonzales said. “It’s important for me to face Paul, see the velo, see the movement. He’s one of the best in the game, so you see where you’re at, where you stand, what you need to work on.”

Paul Skenes live BP vs Oneil Cruz, Bryan Reynolds, Marcell Ozuna and Nick Gonzales at Pirate City. pic.twitter.com/8BlJ9aqa3r

— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) February 19, 2026

Round 2 of Skenes vs Cruz, Reynolds, Ozuna and Gonzales at Pirate City pic.twitter.com/TcxHD8fpdF

— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) February 19, 2026

Round 3: Skenes vs. Cruz, Reynolds and Ozuna pic.twitter.com/jMoChBASp3

— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) February 19, 2026

Skenes struck out three of the first four batters he faced his first time up, getting Cruz, Ozuna and Gonzales to go down swinging. Cruz looked at a called third strike in his second at-bat, which Reynolds followed with a single to right-center. Skenes recovered to get Ozuna and Gonzales to fly out. In his third frame, he struck out Cruz and Reynolds before getting Ozuna to pop up for the final out.

Gonzales said Skenes was balancing his elevated four-seamer with splinkers and changeups to keep the hitters off balance. He threw sweepers to Ozuna and a new-look curveball to Cruz.

“He looked really good,” Gonzales said. “Obviously, we know he’s really good. Everything looked really polished. He was working what he wanted to do with his attack plans, and he looked really good. The sinker is down and in, and the four-seam is up. That’s a lethal combo for him. He’s going to get a lot of outs with that.”

Where Skenes made five starts in Grapefruit League games last year — going 2-0 with a 2.50 ERA and 1.50 WHIP over 18 innings — he expects to add one more outing this spring because of the WBC but noted they will be “a little more spaced out.”

It was an exciting way to end their final full workout before leaving Pirate City on Friday afternoon and starting Grapefruit League play this weekend. They open against the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday in Sarasota, then host the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday and New York Yankees on Monday at LECOM Park.

“It felt good,” Skenes said. “That was the biggest thing, three ups and getting ahead in the counts and throwing strikes. I thought it was good for the most part, something to build off of.”

---

Copyright ©2026— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)

---