The First Look At Team Canada's World Baseball Classic Roster

[Jesse Burrill]

This may be the biggest and most star-studded World Baseball Classic yet. The 2023 tournament was a massive success, punctuated by Shohei Ohtani striking out his at-the-time teammate Mike Trout to clinch Japan's third WBC championship in six tournaments.

Fast forward to 2026, and the event is picking up even more steam. Many more of baseball's star players have committed to playing, and Team USA is loaded with elite talent led by Aaron Judge, Cal Raleigh, along with frontline starters Tarik Skubal and Paul Skenes. Team Japan, led by Shohei Ohtani, will once again be a tough challenge, while the Dominican Republic is stacked with All-Stars and MVP-caliber players, including the Blue Jays' Vladimir Guerrero, Jr.

Team Canada may not have the same high-end talent as these other nations, but there is no doubt that the roster Canada puts together will be able to compete and have a chance to strike an upset or two, and in a short tournament where small samples mean so much, anything is truly possible. Canadian baseball fans may remember in 2006, when Team Canada, led by Justin Morneau, Jason Bay, and Matt Stairs, upset a loaded American team 8-6, showing that on any given day, anything is truly possible.

The team already has several MLB and high-end prospects committed to Team Canada, and thanks to Shi Davadi of Sportsnet, we have a list of players who have confirmed to wear the Maple Leaf for Team Canada when pool play starts in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in March.

Team Canada Locks

Manager - Ernie Whitt

Infield

Catcher - Bo Naylor
First Base - Josh Naylor
Second Base - Edouard Julien
Shortstop - Otto Lopez
Third Base - Abraham Toro
UTIL - Trei Cruz

The infield seems to be a strength for this team. Josh Naylor is a former All-Star and is coming off a career-best 3.1 bWAR season. His brother Bo played in 123 games for Cleveland and hit 14 home runs. Julien was exceptional in the 2023 WBC (1.821 OPS) and is looking to bounce back after two sub-replacement-level seasons in Minnesota. Lopez provides elite shortstop defence, and he’s coming off a 3.5 bWAR season. Toro can play all around the infield, and Cruz (the son of former Blue Jay Jose Cruz Jr) is a switch-hitter who posted an .867 OPS across two minor league levels in Detroit's system in 2025.

Outfield

Tyler O'Neill
Denzel Clarke
Owen Caissie
Jared Young

The outfield is young and has a wealth of talent. O’Neill is a veteran of eight MLB seasons, has two Gold Glove awards, and has two 30-home-run seasons under his belt. Clarke may be one of the best up-and-coming defensive centerfielders in all of baseball. Caissie made his MLB debut with the Cubs this season and is considered the best prospect in their system. Jared Young has had some MLB time, but he did post a .969 OPS, getting on base over 40% of the time in Triple-A with the Mets.

Pitchers

RHP Michael Soroka
RHP Cal Quantrill
RHP Matt Brash
LHP Rob Zastryzny
LHP James Paxton
RHP Phillippe Aumont
RHP Curtis Taylor
LHP Adam Macko
RHP Jordan Balazovic
RHP Eric Cerantola
LHP Logan Allen

If there is one downside to Canada, it may be the rotation. Soroka and Quantrill have had some success in the big leagues. Matt Brash is armed with a 98 mph fastball and a career 31.1% strikeout rate. Zastryzny is a veteran of seven big league seasons and has a 2.12 ERA over his last two years with Milwaukee. James Paxton, who retired after the 2024 season, brings veteran experience and familiarity with high-leverage play. Aumont has pitched for Canada in four WBCs already. Taylor, Macko, and Cerantola are all currently pitching in Triple A in the Cardinals, Blue Jays, and Royals systems, respectively. Balazovic got a cup of coffee with the Twins in 2023 and posted a 3.75 ERA in Detroit's minor league system. Allen has most recently pitched in Korea, made 31 starts, and logged 173 innings, and will likely make a start for Team Canada during the tournament.

Team Canada Maybes

Infield

First base - Freddie Freeman
Catcher - Liam Hicks
UTIL - Tyler Black

Outfield

Tristan Peters

Freddie Freeman becomes the big wild card here, a nine-time All-Star, three-time World Series winner, and former MVP would help any team, and Canada is no exception. Freeman’s mother is Canadian, and he has played for Team Canada in the past to honor her. There seems to be mutual interest between the two parties, and if Freeman can play, he would immediately become the focal point of Canada’s lineup.

The drawback may be that he’s not 100% healthy, as he has battled wrist, ankle, and hip injuries over the course of the 2025 season, and manager Ernie Whitt said that Freeman is “having some procedures done” and the Dodgers may prefer it that he spends more time resting and recovering in camp, especially since they played deep into October. Expect more information to come about Freeman as the tournament draws closer.

Hicks, Black, and Peters all have a decent shot of being on the roster, as all of them have made it to the majors and have had limited forms of success. Hicks may have the best chance as he is a catcher, but assuming everyone on the prior list is ready to play, these players may be the odd men out

Pitchers

RHP Jordan Romano
LHP Mitch Bratt
RHP Jonah Tong
RHP Jameson Taillon
RHP Zach Pop
RHP Rowan Wick

If Team Canada adds some of these pitchers, that would add to the upside of the team. From reading Shi’s Article, there is some mutual interest in Romano pitching for the team. Tong and Bratt both may prefer to spend time at their respective spring training camps, but both are young and have immense upside. Taillon said Canada asked him back in November, but he's still “working through it all right now”. Pop and Wick seem unlikely, but both have had big league success previously and could always be an option.

Team Canada Unlikelys

Infielders

First base - Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

As fun as it would be, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has already committed to playing for the Dominican Republic in the WBC.

Pitchers

RHP Nick Pivetta
RHP Cade Smith
LHP Erik Sabrowski

Nick Pivetta is coming off his best MLB season, where he threw a career-high 181 2/3 IP and 5.3 bWAR. The chances of him playing are not zero, as he was going to play for Canada during the 2023 WBC but then dropped out due to illness. Davidi mentioned in the previous article that Pivetta, Smith, and Sabrowski are all unlikely to play, citing a large workload over the past two seasons with Smith and injury issues with Sabrowski. All three of these pitchers would have been a boost to Team Canada, but they will likely have to piece things together without them this go around.

Things are certainly going to change between now and March when the tournament is set to get underway, but on paper, Team Canada has a blend of solid major leaguers, young players with upside, and a reliable set of position players. It's exactly the type of team that could surprise and go on a run in a short tournament. If there was ever a World Baseball Classic where Canada was positioned to break through, 2026 might be it.

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