HOUSTON >> There was a new portrait on the wall heading into the visitors’ clubhouse Tuesday. The face was very familiar.

“I thought that was really cool,” said Tigers’ ace Tarik Skubal. “It’s the same guy who did one for Miggy.”

Indeed. Houston area artist Opie Otterstad reprised the Triple Crown portrait he did of Miguel Cabrera after the 2012 season. This time it was Skubal’s smiling face wearing the crown.

“I asked him if I could buy it,” said Skubal, who won the pitching version of the Triple Crown and the America League Cy Young award last season. “It’s really cool. But I have to run it by my financial advisor — which is my wife (Jessica). It would look good in my office, for sure.”

You know what else would look good in Skubal’s office? A framed No. 29 Team USA jersey. But, as bad as he might want that and deserve that, getting it might be problematic.

Skubal has not formally been asked to compete on Team USA in the next World Baseball Classic, which will take place next March. But there has been conversation about it within the industry and within Skubal’s management team.

“It’s been brought up,” he said. “I would love to play. But if they wanted me to play, I would have to have some conversations with my agent (Scott Boras Agency) and the team and see what their stance is on all this.”

One of the complications is that next fall, unless he and the Tigers negotiate an extension, Skubal will be entering his final year before free agency.

Also, having the competition in the middle of spring training isn’t ideal, especially for starting pitchers who need the six weeks of spring to build up their arm strength and endurance.

“I don’t know that the team (Tigers) would want me to play that early in the season,” Skubal said. “I would love to do it. I don’t ever want to say no. It’s been a dream of mine my whole life, to play for Team USA. It’s the best country in the world and you want to put the best product on the field.

“I’d take a lot of pride in that if I were able to suit up for them. But there will probably have to be some conversations about it.”

Manager AJ Hinch, a Team USA alum, certainly understands the appeal both for the U.S. team and for Skubal. But it’s not a topic he is keen on discussing in April, with an entire season to play.

Z-Mac MVP

You could argue that Zach McKinstry has been the Tigers’ MVP for the first month of the season, helping to solidify an injury-ravaged outfield and posting a 1.3 WAR and .902 OPS to boot.

The MLB Players’ Association also thinks he is most valuable, but in a different realm. On Tuesday, on McKinstry’s 30th birthday, he was named the Players’ Trust Most Valuable Philanthropist.

“It’s super gratifying,” McKinstry said. “They’ve given me some money to give to my charities. It’s very humbling for them to do that for me.”