Bryan Woo has already done Mariners' World Series aspirations a huge favor

The only thing more exciting than the imminent start of spring training games is the World Baseball Classic. For those participating, the offseason has been shorter as tournament play will begin on March 3rd, more than three weeks before Opening Day.

Despite the scale and importance of the tournament, plenty of talented players are abstaining for the sake of wanting to minimize their chance of injury. Starting pitchers, like Garrett Crochet, are sitting it out to make sure that they're saving their best stuff for the slog of a 162-game regular season. For one of Seattle's best young arms, it's a similar story.

Bryan Woo declined an invitation to pitch for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic

In a recent conversation with Adam Jude of The Seattle Times, Woo revealed that he turned down the chance to join the likes of Paul Skenes, Tarik Skubal, and Logan Webb in Team USA's rotation. He explained that maintaining a clean bill of health for 2026 was his top priority.

"If I had a couple of years where (I was) consistently healthy and consistent workload and all that stuff was much more stable, it would be a different situation, I think. But like I said, just trying to be smart about it. My priority is to be here."

Bryan Woo

Given his track record, it's a sensible way to assess the situation. The 2024 season marked his first year as a mainstay on Seattle's big league team, but he was held back by hamstring and elbow issues. He was outstanding over his 121.1 innings, posting a 2.89 ERA and 3.40 FIP.

Last season, he became one of the best pitchers in the American League, posting a 2.94 ERA and 3.47 FIP over 186.2 innings, a significant step up in workload. Unfortunately, things began to fall apart at the worst time. He was left off the roster for the Division Series due to a pectoral injury and returned in the Championship Series in diminished form.

While representing the national team is tempting, Woo understands that the Mariners need him for the entire year if they want to meet their lofty expectations. He's arguably risen to the top of an already stacked rotation and as long as he's on the team, he's likely to stay there. He might even be good enough for Seattle to keep him around for the long term.

Woo may not have been good enough to pitch for Team USA in the past but there's no question about his arm talent now. He'll undoubtedly get another chance in three years but until then, he's focused on bringing a championship to Seattle.