World Baseball Classic Preview: A Comprehensive Rundown Ahead of Baseball’s Premier Global Tournament

Three years ago, Shohei Ohtani struck out his Angels teammate and Captain America, Mike Trout on a 3–2 count to beat the United States and win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for Japan. Ohtani is returning to the tournament and will try to lead his team back to glory, but it won’t be easy as baseball’s biggest stars fight to bring glory to their countries. 

This is only the sixth of the WBC, which is essentially baseball’s version of the World Cup. The tournament occurs every 3–4 years and features 20 countries split into four pools. In each pool, the top two teams advance. In the quarterfinals, Pool A winner plays Pool B runner-up, Pool B winner plays Pool A runner-up and the same occurs for Pools C and D. The pools are in Miami, Florida; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Tokyo, Japan; and Houston, Texas with the quarterfinals in Miami and Houston, and the semifinals and finals in Miami. The tournament runs from March 4–17 and operates as a pre-season MLB tournament. The games will be broadcast on Fox networks and TUBI. Additionally, the tournament has Olympic implications as the two highest placing teams from the Americas, excluding the United States, will qualify for the 2028 Olympics. 

The rules in the WBC are similar to MLB but have some key differences. The tournament has a mercy rule of 10 runs after seven innings and 15 after five innings in pool play. In pool, pitchers are limited to 65 pitches, 80 pitches in the quarter-final round, and 95 pitches in the Championship round. Additionally, if you throw 50 or more pitches in one game, you are required 4 days of rest, one day of rest for 30–49 pitches, and if you pitch in back-to-back games, you must have one day off. These pitch limits add an extra layer of strategy for managers. The tournament has also adopted MLB’s pitch clock. 

Now that we know the format and rules, let’s highlight the pools and key storylines. 

Pool A features Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Panama, and Puerto Rico. The biggest story of this pool isn’t who is on the teams but rather who isn’t.

For MLB players to play in the WBC, they must receive insurance from the MLB insurance provider. This enables MLB teams to send off their players and not worry about paying their contract if they get injured during the tournament. However, for a player to get insured, they must fulfill certain age and injury requirements. Puerto Rico lost seven players, including star players Francisco Lindor and Carlos Correa, to these insurance issues. At one point, renowned Puerto Rican musician Bad Bunny offered to pay for insurance for both of them, but they both declined as the insurance company was deemed too unreliable. As a result, Puerto Rico debated withdrawing from the tournament but ultimately decided against it. Despite these absences, Puerto Rico’s team has a decent MLB presence, including Edwin Díaz, Seth Lugo, Nolan Arenado, and are managed by future Hall of Fame catcher Yadier Molina. Diaz returns to the tournament after tearing his patellar tendon while celebrating a win in the 2023 tournament. In 2023, they made a run to the quarterfinals but were knocked out by Mexico. 

Team Cuba is missing their star outfielders, Luis Robert Jr. and Yordan Alvarez due to injuries and political issues. As a result, the team features a lot of minor leaguers, former big leaguers, and current MLB hitter Yoán Moncada and pitcher Yariel Rodríguez. The team also has 44-year-old Alexei Ramírez, the oldest WBC player, who played for Cuba in 2006 and last played in MLB in 2016. In 2023, Cuba made it to the semifinals but lost to Team USA. 

Team Canada is missing its biggest star, Freddie Freeman, due to personal reasons. Though the team still features a solid mix of major and minor league players. Canada has MLB hitters Tyler O’Neill, brothers Josh Naylor and Noah-Gibson “Bo” Naylor, Owen Cassie, and starting pitchers James Paxton, Cal Quantrill, and Jameson Taillon. In 2023, the Canadian team failed to make it out of pool play. Both Colombia and Panama aren’t missing any big players, but have a general lack of star MLB players. Team Colombia MLB players are Gio Urshela, Donovan Solano, Elias Díaz, and José Quintana while Panama’s are José Callabero, Miguel Amaya, Edumondo Sosa, and Logan Allen. Neither team was able to make it out of pool play in 2023. While I think Puerto Rico and Cuba had the most success last time around, due to the many absences, this pool is definitely the most up for grabs. Though I predict Puerto Rico wins the pool and Canada comes in second. 

Pool B features Brazil, Great Britain, Italy, Mexico, and the United States. The biggest storyline for this pool is not who’s gonna win, rather who’s going be the other team to make it out of the pool. Calling Team USA stacked is an understatement. The pitching staff alone has the two best pitchers in baseball and last year’s Cy Young winners, Paul Skenes and Tarik Skubal, future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw, and flamethrower Mason Miller. Meanwhile, the offense features last year’s MVP Aaron Judge, MVP runner-ups Cal Raleigh and Kyle Schwarber, and that’s just the top of the lineup. Sadly, the team does not feature Mike Trout. This team is currently favored to win the whole thing and rightfully so. It should be noted that Tarik Skubal is only pitching in one game in pool play for Team USA, so other starters and relievers are gonna need to step up for Team USA to make a deep run. 

Team Mexico seems to be the most likely team to challenge USA in the pool. Mexico features MLB pitchers Javier Assad, Taijuan Walker, Andrés Muñoz and hitters Randy Arozarena, Jonathan Aranda, Jarren Duran, and Alejandro Kirk. Their team has many of the same core players as 2023 when they made it to the semifinals and lost to Japan, so don’t be surprised if they go on a run. 

Team Italy features MLB pitchers Michael Lorenzen and Aaron Nola, and hitters Vinnie Pasquantino and Jeffrey “Jac” Caglianone. This is a solid crew of MLB players, though it remains to be seen if they can overcome this tough pool. While Italy did make it to the quarterfinals in 2023 and lost to Japan, the core of the team this time around is quite different. Great Britain has Jazz Chisholm Jr., Harry Ford, and Trayce Thompson (NBA player Klay Thompson’s brother) as a part of their offense, but have a severe lack of MLB pitching experience.  Last time, Great Britain didn’t make it out of pool play. Team Brazil returns to the WBC for the first time since 2013. Unfortunately, they lack any MLB players, and with this pool, making it out will take a miracle. While Italy could make a run for the title, I predict that Team USA will win this pool and Team Mexico will be the runner-up. 

Pool C features Australia, Chinese Taipei, Czechia, Japan, and Korea. This pool has by far the most non-MLB players and non-professional players. So the question for this pool becomes who will step up for their team and make a name for themselves. This provides the unknown players with the opportunity to showcase themself to MLB teams. Team Japan, which has MLB pitchers Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Yusei Kikuchi, and hitters Seiya Suzuki, Masataka Yoshida, and Shohei Ohtani, also has many players unknown to the general public. Japan has the advantage of having the same core as last time, and all their players playing professionals. Unfortunately, Shohei won’t be pitching in the tournament due to insurance. However, this shouldn’t stop Japan from going deep. 

Korea has quite a few MLB players in Dane Dunning, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Hyesong Kim, Jung Hoo Lee, and players from the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO). Team Korea lost in pool play last time, but has a lot of new faces on its team. Team Australia features top MLB prospect Travis Bazzana, who was drafted first in the MLB Draft, and players from the KBO and Australian Baseball League. Australia has a similar team and was in a similar pool last time, so making it out of the pool for this team wouldn’t be all too surprising. 

Team Chinese Taipei’s only active MLB player is Stuart Fairchild, but they have some minor leaguers and players from the Chinese Professional Baseball League. The team didn’t make it out of pool play last time, but features quite a few new players. Team Czechia features mostly non-professional players who have full-time jobs. Their most famous player is Ondřej Santoria, an electrician who struck out Ohtani last tournament. He rejoins a similar team to last time, which didn’t make it out of pool play. It will be an uphill battle for them to make it out of the pool. I predict Japan is easily gonna win this pool, and that Australia will come in second. 

Pool D takes place in Miami and features the Dominican Republic, Israel, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. The biggest storyline for this pool is can anyone stop Team Dominican Republic and Team Venezuela. Team Dominican Republic is quite stacked featuring hitters Manny Machado, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Ketel Marte, Juan Soto, Fernando Tatís Jr., and pitchers Sandy Alcántara, Luis Severino, Christopher Sánchez. Like Team USA, it is composed completely of MLB players and is managed by future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols. If this team is to fail it will be because of not enough pitching. Although last time they were a heavily favored team and failed to make it out of pool play so an early exit wouldn’t be uncharacteristic. 

Team Venezuela is quite strong as well with MLB hitters Salvador Perez, Eugenio Suárez, Ronald Acuña Jr., brothers William Contreras and Wilson Contreras, and pitchers Ranger Suárez, Eduardo Rodriguez, and Daniel Palencia. The concern for them being a little light on pitching but they have a strong offense. Venezuela lost to Team USA in the quarterfinals but was able to beat the Dominican Republic in pool play so they aren’t afraid. 

Team Netherlands has the highest chance of victory. They have a solid group of hitters with Ozhaino “Ozzie” Albies, Xander Bogaerts, Ceddanne Rafaela, and Jurickson Profar. Their only pitcher of note is Kenley Jansen though quite a few of their pitchers appeared in the last tournament. Though they didn’t advance out of pool play, so with a similar team they are going to need some big-time pitching performance. It’s not impossible but it’s certainly not going to be easy for them. Team Israel and Team Nicaragua lack the same star power that the other three teams in the pool possess. Team Israel features Harrison Bader and Dean Kremer while Nicaragua’s only team MLB player is Mark Vientos. Though Nicaragua is managed by future Hall of Fame Manager Johnnie B. “Dusty” Baker, both teams failed to make it out of pool play last time and it would be quite a shock if they managed to make it out this time around. I predict that Team Dominican Republic will win this pool with Team Venezuela coming in second place.

With my selections from the pools, in the quarterfinals matchups are Puerto Rico vs. Mexico, USA vs. Canada, Japan vs. Venezuela, and Australia vs. Dominican Republic. I think Mexico, USA, Japan, and Dominican Republic will win, setting us up with Mexico vs. USA and Japan vs. Dominican Republic. This would be an electric matchup and I think we’ll get a rematch of 2023 with USA vs. Japan, with Japan winning their fourth title. Regardless of what happens, it’s shaping up to be an entertaining WBC yet again. Chinese Taipei vs. Australia will open up the tournament on Wednesday, March 4 at 10 p.m. on FS1. 

Benjamin Mayer can be reached at bmayer@wesleyan.edu.