Baseball takes on the global stage, as pool play is underway
The World Baseball Classic is one the coolest sights that the sport has to offer. From loanDepot Park in Miami, all the way to the Tokyo Dome in Japan, baseball quite literally takes over the planet.
The 2023 edition of the WBC was a spectacle at the time, but now, feels like a trailer to the even more anticipated 2026 tournament. Almost every returning country is fielding an improved roster, and the prestige of winning the trophy feels much higher. Insert Team USA captain Aaron Judge’s chills-inducing speech to his squad here.
What’s also changed since 2023, is the alignment of the teams in each of the four pools. Key changes include Puerto Rico moving to Pool A from Pool D, and Canada moving from Pool C to Pool A.
The neat aspect of the pool play format is that everyone gets a chance to advance to the quarterfinals. Talent is fairly distributed, and every team has something to play for.
The tournament format allows both the pool winner and runner-up to advance to bracket play. All four pools have a different feel, and are played in various locations. Pool A will play in San Juan, Puerto Rico at Hiram Bithorn Stadium. Pool B will square off at Daikin Park in Houston, and Pool C will take place in the famous Tokyo Dome in Japan. Lastly, Pool D will play at a familiar venue in Miami’s loanDepot Park.
Pool A
Pool A is essentially the “mid-major” conference, in college sports terms. Canada, Colombia, and Puerto Rico share a fair amount of MLB talent. For teams projected to finish in fourth and fifth place, Cuba and Panama aren’t too shabby.
Here’s a breakdown of where each team’s offense and pitching ranks in Pool A:
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Canada | Offense: #1 | Pitching: #2 | OVR: #2 |
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Colombia | Offense: #3 | Pitching: #3 | OVR: #3 |
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Cuba | Offense: #4 | Pitching: #5 | OVR: #4 |
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Panama | Offense: #5 | Pitching: #4 | OVR: #5 |
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Puerto Rico | Offense: #2 | Pitching: #1 | OVR: #1 |
Projected Pool A Winner: Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico boasts a dominant backend bullpen combination of Fernando Cruz and Edwin Diaz. Up front, they feature Seth Lugo as the strongest staff ace in the Pool, by far.
While Lindor isn’t suiting up this year, Heliot Ramos and Nolan Arenado are. For the competition they’ll face, these two with the help of Eddie Rosario and Willi Castro should be able to get the job done offensively.
Remember, they beat the Dominican Republic, 5-2, in 2023 as a part of the talented Pool D that played in Miami. They advanced to the bracket stage, but lost to Mexico by a run.
Pool B
There’s a good case that Pool B houses the most competitive three-team race in the tournament. Team USA is the consensus favorite, and the talented Mexico and Italy squads will likely battle for the second-place bid.
Italy and Brazil are new to this group, but Mexico are no strangers whatsoever. In 2023, the Mexicans upset the United States 11-5 in pool play, winning first-place in the group and advancing all the way to the semifinals. It took a walk-off double from eventual-champion Munetaka Murakami to send Team Mexico home.
Here’s a look at how the position groups stack up for Pool B:
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Italy | Offense: #3 | Pitching: #2 | OVR: #3 |
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Brazil | Offense: #5 | Pitching: #5 | OVR: #5 |
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Great Britain | Offense: #4 | Pitching: #4 | OVR: #4 |
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Mexico | Offense: #2 | Pitching: #3 | OVR: #2 |
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USA | Offense: #1 | Pitching: #1 | OVR: #1 |
Projected Pool A Winner: Team USA
In 2023, Team Mexico made a thrilling run deep into bracket play because of one huge reason: Randy Arozarena was a man on a mission.
In 2026, the early returns from the United States have indicated an even scarier sight. The US has men on a mission, not just one man. The belief is as vivid as it gets in manager Mark DeRosa’s clubhouse.
Team USA arguably has the best rotation, bullpen, lineup, and defense of any team. No upset pick could make any realistic case, as there’s truly no weakness on the roster.
Pool C
Pool C is the least competitive group, but there’s a fun vibe that comes from this five. Japan and Korea are almost certain to come out of this pool, however, there’s still a strong motive for the other three teams to compete.
For Australia, Chinese Taipei, and Czechia, there lies a special value in picking up a win. While the countries aren’t powerhouses, they take extreme pride in picking wins, or even being close in games down the stretch.
Here’s the positional rankings for these five rosters:
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Australia | Offense: #3 | Pitching: #3 | OVR: #3 |
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Chinese Taipei | Offense: #5 | Pitching: #4 | OVR: #4 |
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Czechia | Offense: #4 | Pitching: #5 | OVR: #5 |
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Japan | Offense: #1 | Pitching: #1 | OVR: #1 |
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Korea | Offense: #2 | Pitching: #2 | OVR: #2 |
Projected Pool C Winner: Japan
The Japanese brought home the trophy in 2023, and didn’t subtract many pieces from that championship team.
While Yu Darvish and Roki Sasaki aren’t suiting up, for widely different reasons, the pitching staff is still extremely strong. Yoshinobu Yamamoto spearheads the group, with Yusei Kikuchi, Tomoyuki Sugano, and Hiroto Takahashi providing strong support.
Offensively, the best player on the planet, Shohei Ohtani, leads the way. MLB regulars Masataka Yoshida and Seiya Suzuki provide some serious pop. Meanwhile, NPB stars Teruaki Sato and Kensuke Kondoh supply more offensive firepower.
Pool D
Pool D is home to easily the best current-day rivalry in the tournament. The two Latin American powerhouses, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela, will go head-to-head, and the winner will presumably win the pool.
While the matchup between the Dominican Republic and Venezuela will get every headline, the Netherlands squad is also a talented group of players. From the young Ceddanne Rafaela to the retired Didi Gregorius, there’s a wide variety of talent on the roster.
Here’s what the position groups look like in this talented pool:
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Dominican Republic | Offense: #1 | Pitching: #1 | OVR: #1 |
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Israel | Offense: #5 | Pitching: #5 | OVR: #5 |
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Netherlands | Offense: #3 | Pitching: #4 | OVR: #3 |
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Nicaragua | Offense: #4 | Pitching: #3 | OVR: #4 |
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Venezuela | Offense: #2 | Pitching: #2 | OVR: #2 |
Projected Pool D Winner: Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is one of the three powerhouses in the tournament, but they’ll face the toughest early challenge. Their matchup with Venezuela is almost certain to decide the winner of this pool.
Venezuela fields an impressive lineup, but the Dominican Republic just houses too much talent. If you put the lineups side-by-side, Venezuela only has the better center fielder and better catcher, in Ronald Acuña Jr. and William Contreras.
The pitching is what makes the difference, with Sandy Alcantara slated to make the start against Venezuela. The Dominicans’ bullpen is much improved from 2023, as they added Seranthony Domínguez and Abner Uribe among other key pieces.
This is the tightest matchup of any pool, and could truly go either way. In 2023, we saw a similar-looking Venezuela team upset the Dominican Republic, against guess who on the mound: Sandy Alcantara.
However, the Dominican Republic’s roster is simply generational. While they’ll need to show it out on the field first, it’s too good of a team on paper to pick against.
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