A Closer Look at Team Canada's Roster for the 2026 World Baseball Classic

[Jesse Burrill]

While much of Canada’s sporting attention is focused on the Winter Olympics, the World Baseball Classic is quickly approaching, bringing together much of the game’s best talent on the international stage.

On Thursday evening, Baseball Canada announced its official 30-man roster for the 2026 WBC, revealing that Canada is bringing some of its best and brightest talents to the world stage.

The strength of the team is going to be its young position player core. All-Star first baseman Josh Naylor will provide some middle-of-the-order thump, coming off a 20-homer, 30-steal season with the Diamondbacks and Mariners in 2025. Joining him will be another power threat in Tyler O’Neill, who has eclipsed 30 home runs twice and has a pair of Gold Glove Awards to his name. It will be the third straight WBC appearance for O’Neill.

Team Canada has a chance to exceed expectations, as there are more young players full of high-end potential on the roster that could provide elite production. Owen Caissie is a former top-100 prospect who has already reached the big leagues, Denzel Clarke is already one of the best defensive center fielders in baseball, and Edouard Julien, who is entering his fourth big league season, went 7-for-13 with four extra-base hits in the 2023 tournament.

Beyond the headliners, the rest of the lineup is filled with major league contributors. Josh Naylor's brother Bo will be behind the plate, Otto Lopez just put together a 3.5 bWAR season with the Marlins, and Liam Hicks, Tyler Black, Abraham Toro, and Jared Young all spent some part of the 2025 season in the major leagues.

Canada’s pitching staff leans heavily on experience, blending proven major league veterans with depth arms capable of soaking up innings in a short tournament. The rotation will be led by 2019 All-Star Michael Soroka, who has a career 3.85 ERA and will be making his WBC debut in 2026. Jameson Taillon has over 1,200 major league innings under his belt and will provide some quality innings for the team, as will Cal Quantrill, a veteran of seven MLB seasons.

Canadian baseball fans will recognize some other names on the roster, most notably James Paxton (a.k.a. the Big Maple), who will be coming out of retirement to pitch for the team. Logan Allen, who has five years of big league experience, will join Team Canada after throwing 173 innings in the KBO in 2025. Rob Zastryzny, Jordan Balazovic, and Phillippe Aumont all have previous major league experience as well.

The Canadian coaching staff can't be overlooked either. Ernie Whitt will manage the team for a record sixth straight WBC, and joining him will be former AL MVP Justin Morneau as hitting coach, former All-Star and Blue Jay Russell Martin as the first base coach, Paul Quantrill, Cal Quantrill’s father, as the pitching coach, and Stubby Clapp, who was a key part of the 2006 WBC team, rounds out the staff as the third base coach.

For as good as Team Canada looks, some notable names were eligible but won't be playing. Former MVP and nine-time All-Star Freddie Freeman wanted to participate but withdrew due to “personal reasons” back in January. Kingston, Ontario native and Seattle Mariners flamethrower Matt Brash was a late withdrawal, while fellow major leaguers Nick Pivetta, Cade Smith, Erik Sabrowski, Jordan Romano, Jonah Tong, and pitching prospect Mitch Bratt were all left off the roster.

With the roster finalized, attention now turns to pool play, and for the first time since the tournament began, Team Canada won't have to deal with Team USA in their pool. Canada is in Pool A, with games being played at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in Puerto Rico.

Joining Team Canada in the pool will be Cuba, Panama, Colombia, and the hosts, Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico will likely be the favourite, and while all five rosters feature major league talent, Canada has a clear path to success. If the Canadians can finish in the top two in their pool, it would mark the team's first trip to the knockout round in tournament history, and this roster has the talent to make that dream a reality.

Team Canada will have a chance to tune up when they play against the Blue Jays in an exhibition game on March 3 in Dunedin, Florida. They'll play another the next day against the Phillies in Clearwater.

The tournament gets underway on March 5, with Canada’s first game taking place on March 7 against Colombia.

The full roster for Team Canada in the 2026 World Baseball Classic can be found here:

Pitchers

LHP Logan Allen, West Palm Beach, Florida
LHP Micah Ashman, Salt Lake City, Utah
RHP Phillippe Aumont, Gatineau, Quebec
RHP Jordan Balazovic, Mississauga, Ontario
RHP Eric Cerantola, Montreal, Quebec
RHP Indigo Diaz, North Vancouver, British Columbia
LHP Antoine Jean, Montreal, Quebec
RHP Carter Loewen, Abbotsford, British Columbia
LHP Adam Macko, Bratislava, Slovakia
LHP James Paxton, Lander, British Columbia
RHP Cal Quantrill, Port Hope, Ontario
RHP Noah Skirrow, Cambridge, Ontario
RHP Michael Soroka, Calgary, Alberta
RHP Jameson Taillon, Lakeland, Florida
LHP Matt Wilkinson, Vancouver, British Columbia
LHP Rob Zastryzny, Edmonton, Alberta

Catchers

C Liam Hicks, Toronto, Ontario
C Bo Naylor, Mississauga, Ontario

Infielders

1B/DH Tyler Black, Toronto, Ontario
3B/DH Matt Davidson, Yucaipa, California
2B/SS Adam Hall, London, Ontario
2B Edouard Julien, Quebec City, Quebec
2B/SS Otto Lopez, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
1B Josh Naylor, Mississauga, Ontario
2B/3B Abraham Toro, Longueuil, Québec
1B/DH Jared Young, Prince George, British Columbia

Outfielders

OF Owen Caissie, Burlington, Ontario
OF Denzel Clarke, Toronto, Ontario
OF Tyler O’Neill, Burnaby, British Columbia
OF Jacob Robson, London, Ontario

Coaching Staff

Manager: Ernie Whitt, Detroit, Michigan
Hitting Coach: Justin Morneau, New Westminster, British Columbia
Pitching Coach: Paul Quantrill, London, Ontario
First Base Coach: Russell Martin, East York, Ontario
Third Base Coach: Stubby Clapp, Windsor, Ontario

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