World Baseball Classic 2026 GDT

[Spanky__99]

Just now, Jays24 said:

Because im basing that off the rosters actually playing in this tournament.  USA, Mexico and Italy are all better than any team in our group.  

Italy was ranked 12th coming in, bro. USA 2 Japan 1st

 

[Governator]

Italy?  It's baseball... even the worst teams can win 4 games. 

[BTS]

Time to clench gentlemen 

[Laika]

This Indigo guy was okay before right? 

[Stangstag]

4 minutes ago, Spanky__99 said:

Italy was ranked 12th coming in, bro. USA 2 Japan 1st

 

Yes is that not based off last year?

For example, PR missing 3 of their best players is a massive hit

[Spanky__99]

3 minutes ago, Stangstag said:

Yes is that not based off last year?

For example, PR missing 3 of their best players is a massive hit

COMING IN BRO!!!

PR would've been 4 prior.

[Laika]

Just so sad that Canada has to go straight from 5 great innings from someone who is (sort of) an MLB SP to a relief appearance by a guy who has never touched AAA.  

It is definitely some sort of organizational / program failure to be so unable to get the pitching depth to come participate. Even if this was just Zach Pop here. Or Romano. Or Sabrowski. 

[Spanky__99]

5 minutes ago, Laika said:

Just so sad that Canada has to go straight from 5 great innings from someone who is (sort of) an MLB SP to a relief appearance by a guy who has never touched AAA.  

It is definitely some sort of organizational / program failure to be so unable to get the pitching depth to come participate. Even if this was just Zach Pop here. Or Romano. Or Sabrowski. 

What are they supposed to do, you send an invite and hope?

[Stangstag]

5 minutes ago, Spanky__99 said:

COMING IN BRO!!!

PR would've been 4 prior.

Spank are you that stupid bro

[BTS]

This is painful to watch. Imagine having Cade Smith here 

[Stangstag]

6 minutes ago, Laika said:

Just so sad that Canada has to go straight from 5 great innings from someone who is (sort of) an MLB SP to a relief appearance by a guy who has never touched AAA.  

It is definitely some sort of organizational / program failure to be so unable to get the pitching depth to come participate. Even if this was just Zach Pop here. Or Romano. Or Sabrowski. 

Unpatriotic hacks, the lot of them

[Laika]

3 minutes ago, Spanky__99 said:

What are they supposed to do, you send an invite and hope?

Establish better relationships with the players, have a more inspiring or better program, do what it takes to field a deeper team. 

It's a long term failure. Not something they can fix overnight. Need to start now for the next tournament and the one after. Maybe they are already improving, who knows. 

[Laika]

Macko with the curveball! 

To strikeout some guy I heard of in the LOD draft many years ago. I think. 

[BTS]

Big balls on Macko 

[Stangstag]

2 minutes ago, BTS said:

Big balls on Macko 

I was not at all confident 

[Spanky__99]

2 minutes ago, Stangstag said:

Spank are you that stupid bro

I'm now going to ask the same question? PR were 4th in the World Ranks, the players they had that couldn't play dropped their Power Ranking to 7, how's stat confusing.

Here were the Power Ranks coming into the day  prior to the tournament.

 

 

The World Baseball Classic is, at last, almost here. The 2026 Classic will kick off at 10 p.m. ET Wednesday night in Tokyo, and by Friday, all four pools will be underway, with games also taking place in Houston, Miami and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Only three teams have ever won the WBC: Japan (three times), the Dominican Republic (once) and the United States (once). But the beauty of baseball in this high-stakes tournament format is that anyone can.

2026 World Baseball Classic
Pool B (Houston) & Pool D (Miami) presented by Capital One
• Tiebreaker scenarios for USA, Mexico, Italy
• Schedule and how to watch
• WBC scoreboard
• Standings and tiebreakers
• Tickets
• Rosters
• Players by MLB team
• Complete coverage

With games set to begin, we had 20 MLB.com voters cast ballots, ranking the WBC teams, one through 20. It was an incredibly close race, with the top three teams – in fact, those same three with previous WBC titles – ending up in a virtual tie. But based on a points system (three points for a first-place vote, two points for a second and one point for a third), one team narrowly came out on top.

Fortunately, we’re about to play a whole bunch of games to find out who’s really No. 1.

Mar 21, 2023

 · 

0:28

Ohtani fans Trout, seals Classic

 

1. Japan
Top MLB players: DH Shohei Ohtani, RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto, OF Seiya Suzuki
They are the defending champs, a three-time winner and the No. 1-ranked team in the world. Unfortunately, Ohtani’s not pitching this time. But you may remember what happened the last time Yamamoto took the mound in a big game.

2. United States
Top MLB players: OF Aaron Judge, RHP Paul Skenes, LHP Tarik Skubal
We all remember how close they came last time, and that was when they didn’t have anything close to the pitching staff they do now. This is almost certainly the most talent Team USA has ever had. Now’s the time.

Mar 1, 2026

 · 

2:12

Aaron Judge on his excitement for the Classic

 

3. Dominican Republic
Top MLB players: OF Julio Rodríguez, 1B Vladimir Guerrero Jr., OF Juan Soto
There’s not just star power everywhere on the field, there’s star power in the dugout, too. Albert Pujols has the ultimate opportunity to make the case for a big league managerial job by winning the D.R.’s first title since 2013.

4. Venezuela
Top MLB players: OF Ronald Acuña Jr., C William Contreras, LHP Ranger Suárez
They were one of the most exciting teams in 2023, going undefeated before losing a 7-5 eighth-inning lead in a quarterfinals defeat to Team USA.

Feb 26, 2026

 · 

1:34

Willson Contreras on playing with his brother in WBC

 

5. Mexico
Top MLB players: C Alejandro Kirk, OF Jarren Duran, OF Randy Arozarena
The lineup is the strength for a team that made a surprise run to the semifinals in 2023. If Mexico’s offense can get them to the end of the game with a lead, Andrés Muñoz will be ready to shut the door.

6. Puerto Rico
Top MLB players: 3B Nolan Arenado, RHP Edwin Díaz, RHP Seth Lugo
Puerto Rico has gotten more headlines for the players who aren’t on the roster than those who are, but manager Yadier Molina will get everything out of them that he can.

7. Korea
Top MLB players: OF Jung Hoo Lee, INF Shay Whitcomb, INF Hyeseong Kim
After finishing second back in 2009, they haven't made it out of the group stage since. But there is a lot of talent here, some of which MLB fans are not yet familiar with and some that will bring back fond memories (Hyun Jin Ryu).

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Sign up to receive our daily Morning Lineup to stay in the know about the latest trending topics around Major League Baseball.

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8. Canada
Top MLB players: 1B Josh Naylor, OF Tyler O’Neill, RHP Jameson Taillon
Canada has a real opportunity to advance out of the group stage for the first time in WBC history. That’s partly because of a favorable assignment in Pool A, where Puerto Rico and Cuba may not be as strong as in past years, and partly because Canada has assembled more talent than ever before.

[Stangstag]

5 minutes ago, Laika said:

Establish better relationships with the players, have a more inspiring or better program, do what it takes to field a deeper team. 

It's a long term failure. Not something they can fix overnight. Need to start now for the next tournament and the one after. Maybe they are already improving, who knows. 

It took a long time to get the US guys to play. Just the last couple tournaments its been getting better.

Feels like a lot of the “Canadian” guys in the MLB would consider themselves more American, or just dont care. Can’t really make them play

[Stangstag]

1 minute ago, Spanky__99 said:

I'm now going to ask the same question? PR were 4th in the World Ranks, the players they had that couldn't play dropped their Power Ranking to 7, how's stat confusing.

Here were the Power Ranks coming into the day  prior to the tournament.

 

The World Baseball Classic is, at last, almost here. The 2026 Classic will kick off at 10 p.m. ET Wednesday night in Tokyo, and by Friday, all four pools will be underway, with games also taking place in Houston, Miami and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Only three teams have ever won the WBC: Japan (three times), the Dominican Republic (once) and the United States (once). But the beauty of baseball in this high-stakes tournament format is that anyone can.

2026 World Baseball Classic
Pool B (Houston) & Pool D (Miami) presented by Capital One
• Tiebreaker scenarios for USA, Mexico, Italy
• Schedule and how to watch
• WBC scoreboard
• Standings and tiebreakers
• Tickets
• Rosters
• Players by MLB team
• Complete coverage

With games set to begin, we had 20 MLB.com voters cast ballots, ranking the WBC teams, one through 20. It was an incredibly close race, with the top three teams – in fact, those same three with previous WBC titles – ending up in a virtual tie. But based on a points system (three points for a first-place vote, two points for a second and one point for a third), one team narrowly came out on top.

Fortunately, we’re about to play a whole bunch of games to find out who’s really No. 1.

Mar 21, 2023

 · 

0:28

Ohtani fans Trout, seals Classic

 

1. Japan
Top MLB players: DH Shohei Ohtani, RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto, OF Seiya Suzuki
They are the defending champs, a three-time winner and the No. 1-ranked team in the world. Unfortunately, Ohtani’s not pitching this time. But you may remember what happened the last time Yamamoto took the mound in a big game.

2. United States
Top MLB players: OF Aaron Judge, RHP Paul Skenes, LHP Tarik Skubal
We all remember how close they came last time, and that was when they didn’t have anything close to the pitching staff they do now. This is almost certainly the most talent Team USA has ever had. Now’s the time.

Mar 1, 2026

 · 

2:12

Aaron Judge on his excitement for the Classic

 

3. Dominican Republic
Top MLB players: OF Julio Rodríguez, 1B Vladimir Guerrero Jr., OF Juan Soto
There’s not just star power everywhere on the field, there’s star power in the dugout, too. Albert Pujols has the ultimate opportunity to make the case for a big league managerial job by winning the D.R.’s first title since 2013.

4. Venezuela
Top MLB players: OF Ronald Acuña Jr., C William Contreras, LHP Ranger Suárez
They were one of the most exciting teams in 2023, going undefeated before losing a 7-5 eighth-inning lead in a quarterfinals defeat to Team USA.

Feb 26, 2026

 · 

1:34

Willson Contreras on playing with his brother in WBC

 

5. Mexico
Top MLB players: C Alejandro Kirk, OF Jarren Duran, OF Randy Arozarena
The lineup is the strength for a team that made a surprise run to the semifinals in 2023. If Mexico’s offense can get them to the end of the game with a lead, Andrés Muñoz will be ready to shut the door.

6. Puerto Rico
Top MLB players: 3B Nolan Arenado, RHP Edwin Díaz, RHP Seth Lugo
Puerto Rico has gotten more headlines for the players who aren’t on the roster than those who are, but manager Yadier Molina will get everything out of them that he can.

7. Korea
Top MLB players: OF Jung Hoo Lee, INF Shay Whitcomb, INF Hyeseong Kim
After finishing second back in 2009, they haven't made it out of the group stage since. But there is a lot of talent here, some of which MLB fans are not yet familiar with and some that will bring back fond memories (Hyun Jin Ryu).

Get the Latest From MLB

Sign up to receive our daily Morning Lineup to stay in the know about the latest trending topics around Major League Baseball.

 

Sign up

8. Canada
Top MLB players: 1B Josh Naylor, OF Tyler O’Neill, RHP Jameson Taillon
Canada has a real opportunity to advance out of the group stage for the first time in WBC history. That’s partly because of a favorable assignment in Pool A, where Puerto Rico and Cuba may not be as strong as in past years, and partly because Canada has assembled more talent than ever before.

Ah ok fair, I thought you were saying they were ranked 4 which is a joke. Even with their full strength I wouldn’t put them at 4

[Spanky__99]

6 minutes ago, Stangstag said:

Ah ok fair, I thought you were saying they were ranked 4 which is a joke. Even with their full strength I wouldn’t put them at 4

Look further up I said how can Italy be better than Canada(to Jays24 dumn-dumn), that's where it stems from, PR dropped big cause of their issues. Italy ranked 12th.

[Laika]

2 minutes ago, Stangstag said:

It took a long time to get the US guys to play. Just the last couple tournaments its been getting better.

Feels like a lot of the “Canadian” guys in the MLB would consider themselves more American, or just dont care. Can’t really make them play

I guess more American participation will inevitably lead to more Canadians wearing the red and white. 

Weird thing about international baseball right now is the 2028 Olympics. Baseball is there but it will only be a 6 team tournament. USA gets in automatically as the host. The top two teams from the Americas in this WBC get in too. Imagine if Canada somehow did? lol

[Spanky__99]

2 minutes ago, Laika said:

I guess more American participation will inevitably lead to more Canadians wearing the red and white. 

Weird thing about international baseball right now is the 2028 Olympics. Baseball is there but it will only be a 6 team tournament. USA gets in automatically as the host. The top two teams from the Americas in this WBC get in too. Imagine if Canada somehow did? lol

Should be 8 minimum.

[Laika]

Big Maple LOL 

 

[Laika]

Just now, Spanky__99 said:

Should be 8 minimum.

It should be 10+

But MLB won't let MLB players go if it is going to take much longer than 1 week, so that's probably why it is such a small dumb tournament 

Handing out 3 medals when there are 6 participants is hilarious though, and very much un-Olympic 

[Stangstag]

Why not Macko for an inning??

[Stangstag]

4 minutes ago, Spanky__99 said:

Look further up I said how can Italy be better than Canada(to Jays24 dumn-dumn), that's where it stems from, PR dropped big cause of their issues. Italy ranked 12th.

My bad dude

[ComeTogether]

 

 

[Laika]

more amazing defense 

[Stangstag]

Jeeeez dudes

[Stangstag]

1 minute ago, Laika said:

more amazing defense 

Poor Paxton loll both games getting some terrible D behind him

[Laika]

5 minutes ago, Stangstag said:

Why not Macko for an inning??

probably because of the up-down it would have required 

I bet teams are placing all kinds of restrictions on players

like maybe Naylor was not allowed to play the field today