Splashing Down in Pool B of the World Baseball Classic

The rosters for the 2026 World Baseball Classic were announced late last week, so aside from changes due to injuries or insurance eligibility decisions, we now know who will be suiting up for each country when the tournament begins early next month. In this series of posts, you’ll find a team-by-team breakdown, with notable players, storylines to monitor, and speculation on the serious stuff, such as how the squad will fare on the field, as well as commentary on some of the less serious stuff, like uniforms and team aura.

If you missed the post covering Pool A, or you need a quick refresher on how the WBC works, you can catch up here.

The five teams competing in Pool B — the United States, Mexico, Italy, Great Britain, and Brazil — will play their games at Daikin Park in Houston from March 6 to March 11. The two clubs with the best records after playing each of the other four will advance to the Knockout stage, where they will compete in a single-elimination bracket against the six teams that advance from the other pools.

In addition to breaking down the rosters, each team’s blurb will also contain a bit of a vibe check in two primary mediums — music and fashion. Since we’re talking national teams, I’ll be suggesting a secondary anthem for each squad, not as a replacement for any country’s actual anthem, but more of an informal, and very much impermanent alternative. Think of it as a song that speaks to the team’s energy in the current moment, while keeping in mind that the energy could change at any time. Then, on the “look good, feel good” front, we’ll check out the uniforms each team will sport this year and render a quick upgrade/downgrade judgement relative to their 2023 threads. The uniforms for the current iteration of the tournament were largely handled by Nike (Team Japan, with its uniforms made by Mizuno, is the lone exception), whereas in the past each individual country did its own thing. This means every team will have the same quality of uniform, but also that Nike is the one guaranteeing the quality, which could mean anything at this point. It also means less variation in uniform design, as it’s clear Nike used the same two templates for every team.

The United States

Full Roster

In 2023, Team USA advanced all the way to the finals, knocking out Venezuela in the quarterfinals and Cuba in the semis before falling to Japan in a championship game, which culminated with Shohei Ohtani striking out then-teammate Mike Trout to secure the win for his home country. That won’t happen this year because the U.S. will be without Trout and several of the other All-Stars who played last time. Fortunately, Team USA can simply swap out one household name for another. At first base, Bryce Harper will take over for Pete Alonso and Paul Goldschmidt (still on the roster, but likely not starting). Bobby Witt Jr. is expected to get most of the reps at shortstop with Trea Turner gone, leaving Alex Bregman, Gunnar Henderson, and Brice Turang to fill the voids at second and third base left by Nolan Arenado (representing Puerto Rico this year), Tim Anderson, and Jeff McNeil. Cal Raleigh is taking over for J.T. Realmuto in splitting catching duties with Will Smith. Corbin Carroll intended to be one of a new wave of outfielders joining the squad this year, but a broken hamate bone derailed those plans. Instead, Aaron Judge, Pete Crow-Armstrong, and Byron Buxton will step up in the absence of Trout, Mookie Betts (who was still a right fielder back then), Kyle Tucker, and Cedric Mullins. If that sounds like too much turnover among position players, don’t worry. Kyle Schwarber is back to hold it down at DH and provide all the stability this lineup needs.

But all of that position player talk is burying the lede; the real headline is all the top-of-the-rotation starting pitchers Team USA attracted for this year’s tournament, including both Cy Young winners from 2025. Because of the awkward timing of the tournament in early March, most pitchers in the past have preferred to stay in spring training with their major league clubs and complete a normal ramp-up to the start of the regular season. But as the WBC has continued to gain cultural cachet and buy-in from position players, recruiting pitchers has become less of a Sisyphean task. In 2023, Team USA used four starters — Lance Lynn, Adam Wainwright, Merrill Kelly, and Nick Martinez — whereas this year the starting staff is led by Tarik Skubal, Paul Skenes, and Logan Webb, with Matthew Boyd, Joe Ryan, and Nolan McLean also in the fold. Clayton Kershaw will be taking over for Wainwright as the honorary old dude, but Kershaw shouldn’t need to throw eight innings the way Wainwright did in 2023.

With the usual strong core of position players and a heavily upgraded rotation, Team USA should have no problem advancing to the Knockout stage and making a deep run through the bracket.

Uniforms Compared to 2023? Downgrade

So we’re just stuck with that S that looks like bacon forever, huh? Breakfast meat letters aside, the piping added to the 2026 version of the white jersey just creates clutter, as does the color-blocking on the navy jersey, but at least it’ll have the boys looking curvier? I guess?

Secondary Anthem: “Let’s Go Crazy” by Prince

First, it features an organ, so it’s already tailor-made to play in a baseball stadium. Second, it’s a song by a Minnesota native encouraging folks to resist evil and spread joy. Third, if J.D. Vance decides to make an appearance at any of Team USA’s games, we’re going to need a bop to drown out the boos.

Mexico

Full Roster

For the first time ever, Team Mexico will not have Oliver Pérez on its WBC roster. Granted, the tournament has only existed since 2006, but that’s still a heck of a run of WBC appearances. The 2023 squad advanced to the Knockout stage, where it eliminated Puerto Rico in the quarterfinals but lost a one-run game to Japan in the semis.

Last time out, Team Mexico’s offense was led by Randy Arozarena and Isaac Paredes. Arozarena is returning to the 2026 squad, but Paredes will sit this one out after missing a couple of months toward the end of last season with a hamstring strain. The absence of Paredes, who slashed .375/.444/.500 with a home run, six RBI, and a stolen base in 2023, is a significant loss, but it’s not an insurmountable one. This year, Mexico is adding Brewers shortstop Joey Ortiz and Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk. Ortiz experienced a bit of a sophomore slump last season after a strong rookie showing in 2024, but he still played solid defense at short. Meanwhile, Kirk is coming off a deep postseason run with Toronto, during which he posted a 132 wRC+. Mexico is also getting more experienced versions of Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran and Rays first baseman Jonathan Aranda. At the time of the 2023 tournament, Duran had logged just 335 big league plate appearances over two seasons and had yet to crack the 100 wRC+ mark, a feat he’s accomplished in all three seasons since then. Aranda had even less major league experience to that point (87 plate appearances with a 73 wRC+ in 2022), but last season he posted a 146 wRC+ over 422 plate appearances.

On the pitching side, Twins starter Taj Bradley, Mariners closer Andrés Muñoz, and Rangers reliever Robert Garcia are joining right-handed starters Taijuan Walker of the Phillies, Javier Assad of the Cubs, and José Urquidy of the Pirates as the notable hurlers on the roster. Bradley, Walker, and Urquidy are all coming off lackluster performances in 2025, but both Walker and Urquidy pitched reasonably well on this stage in 2023.

As for young players to keep an eye on, infielder Jared Serna checked in at no. 19 on the Marlins’ 2025 midseason top prospects list. His scouting report characterizes him as a lil guy who swings real hard and still manages a decent amount of contact. He cracked Triple-A last year and could make his big league debut sometime in 2026.

Even without Paredes, Mexico is showing up to the party with a solid squad, and even though Italy is angling hard to be the second team to advance from Pool B, Mexico still has the talent to get to the Knockout round.

Uniforms Compared to 2023? Neutral

The white jersey is a downgrade; the green jersey is an upgrade. It nets out as neutral. The larger red lettering with the green outline works better with the red piping on the white jersey from 2023. But the red jersey from 2023 is begging to be worn to a Christmas party, and I’m just not sure that’s the vibe for a March baseball tournament, so switching to green as the primary color on the alternate jersey is the right move.

Secondary Anthem: “The Randy Arozarena Song” sung to the tune of “The Macarena” and performed by Jeff Passan on the ESPN Daily podcast.

Skip to the 17:00 minute mark of the ESPN Daily podcast to hear the song, and then, if you want a real treat, scoot on ahead to the 25:00 minute mark to hear Passan perform the song again, but this time as Elmo. You’ll notice that this podcast episode is from October of 2020, meaning this song has been intermittently bopping around in my head for over five years. For better or worse, it’s that catchy. And if any teammate of mine had this kind of song written about them, I would sing it to them every single day. They would never know peace again. So I’m recommending that the members of Team Mexico start a new pregame ritual where they join hands in a circle, with Arozarena at the center, and serenade him with this song.

Italy

Full Roster

Team Italy advanced out of pool play in 2023, only to run headlong into the eventual champs and get bounced in the quarterfinals. This year, the Italians are in a much tougher pool, looking up at Mexico and the U.S.; in 2023, all five teams in their pool went 2-2, allowing them to advance based on the tiebreaker metric (runs allowed per defensive out). That Italy won a tiebreaker based on run prevention is surprising given that it really didn’t have a legitimate starting pitcher. The club’s closest facsimile was Matt Harvey, who was coming off a season in the minors with Baltimore. He threw well in the tournament, making two starts and pitching to a 1.29 ERA over seven innings, but Team Italy was still bullpenning pretty much every game, even the ones Harvey started. Harvey is not returning to the roster this year.

All of that would normally be cause for concern, but Italy isn’t rolling up to this year’s tournament with a lightly remixed version of its 2023 roster. Instead, it has a whole new composition, starting with a couple of bonafide starting pitchers in Aaron Nola of the Phillies and new Rockie Michael Lorenzen. Neither is coming off his strongest season, but both provide more legitimate options than Team Italy has had before. And if, as in the past, Italy does need to lean on its bullpen, the options are more viable there, as well. The team has added Padres reliever Ron Marinaccio, who owns a 3.02 ERA over four big league seasons totaling 125 1/3 innings pitched, alongside Red Sox reliever Greg Weissert, who also has four seasons in the majors with a 3.28 ERA over 161 2/3 innings. Perhaps most impressively, Italy has pulled former reliever — and current YouTuber — Adam Ottavino out of retirement. Though to be fair, Ottavino did pitch in the majors as recently as last April, so it’s not like he’s been out of the game that long.

The lineup has undergone even more dramatic upgrades. White Sox catcher Kyle Teel is joining the squad after a rookie season in which he posted a 125 wRC+. Royals outfielder Jac Caglianone struggled at the plate in his first taste of big league action last year, but no one is giving up on his power potential yet, and he’ll be looking to set a sunnier tone heading into the 2026 season. Joining Caglianone in the outfield is the Mariners’ Dominic Canzone, who is coming off the best season of his career so far, hitting for a 141 wRC+ over 268 plate appearances. Marlins center fielder Jakob Marsee completes the outfield picture. Like Caglianone, Marsee is fresh off his first year in the majors, but unlike Caglianone, Marsee logged a 133 wRC+ over 234 plate appearances while playing solid defense in center. Caglianone’s teammate, Vinnie Pasquantino will continue to man first base for the Italians as he did in 2023. The rest of the infield is a bit murkier, but there’s a nice mix of fringy big leaguers and upper-minors types on the roster.

Team Italy also boasts a bevy of prospects ranked on org lists. Most are still too young and inexperienced to expect them to have much of an impact this year, but it bodes well for Italy’s future. And some, like 21 year-old Brewers’ third baseman Andrew Fischer or 23 year-old White Sox infielder Sam Antonacci, may find themselves pressed into service regardless of readiness. Fischer, who ranks eighth on the Brewers list, hits for plenty of power, but struggles a bit with swing and miss. Antonacci checks in at no. 11 on the White Sox list as more of a contact hitter who becomes more vulnerable the higher the velo.

I’ll need to actually see it to believe it, but no one should be surprised if the new and improved Team Italy manages to upset Mexico and make it to the Knockout stage.

Uniforms Compared to 2023? Upgrade

This is truly the smallest upgrade imaginable because it is basically the same uniform as the one from 2023, but for whatever reason the 2023 version has the piping run on top of the Italia lettering instead of underneath it, which is a baffling design choice. The 2026 jerseys correct this error and thus win out. All that really matters is that the team is still permitted to wear those green, white, and red headbands because they rule.

Secondary Anthem: “A Night with the Jersey Devil” by Bruce Springsteen

This one has layers to it, so bear with me. Reports indicate that recruiting efforts from Pasquantino heavily influenced Italy’s upgraded roster. Pasquantino, meanwhile, is famously a fan of the New York Jets, who despite what their name suggests, play in New Jersey, which is also the home of both Bruce Springsteen and a hearty contingent of Italians. Further, Pasquantino’s nickname — the Pasquatch — references a famous cryptid, as does the song’s eponymous subject. And a song about a monster that kills indiscriminately and drinks the blood of its enemies feels appropriately aggressive for a team headed into a fierce competition. Moreover, the song’s final lyric, “She’s my one and only and her name is Baby Blue,” even references the color worn, somewhat unexpectedly, by Team Italy.

Great Britain

Full Roster

This year Great Britain will look to improve on its performance from 2023, when it managed just one win during pool play, a 7-5 victory over Colombia. Harry Ford, who is expected to be in the mix to start at catcher for the Nationals this year, will return to Great Britain’s roster after leading the team on offense last time around. During the 2023 tournament, Ford slashed .308/.400/.846 with two homers in four games. However, he won’t be expected to carry the offense this year. Instead, this lineup will be anchored by Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr., a native of the Bahamas, which makes him eligible to play for Great Britain, since the island commonwealth maintains King Charles III as its monarch despite gaining independence from the United Kingdom in 1973. Other Bahamians on the roster include shortstop Lucius Fox and Kristian Robinson, a center fielder in the Diamondbacks system. Chisholm, who posted a 126 wRC+ last season, instantly takes over as Great Britain’s best hitter. Fox brings seven years of experience in pro ball, though he managed only a cup of coffee in the majors, in 2022, and last played affiliated ball in 2023. Robinson has taken a circuitous path through the minors, and even though there’s some swing and miss in his profile, he maintains enough power that he’s likely to finally get a shot in the majors at some point this season.

The pitching situation is pretty grim, but it’s worth taking a moment to gaze in astonishment at Vance Worley’s name on the roster. Worley last pitched in the majors in 2017, last pitched in the minors in 2021, and followed that up with a season in indie ball in 2022. And yet, here we are in 2026, with Worley looking to follow up on the 2 2/3 scoreless innings he threw during the 2023 WBC.

Great Britain does have a few interesting youngsters to monitor. Pitcher Gary Gill Hill was the Rays’ sixth-ranked prospect last summer. The 21 year-old is primarily a sinker/slider pitcher with solid velocity and a crossfire delivery. Owen Wild, who ranked 26th in the Tampa Bay system, is a 23-year-old with a riding fastball and advanced command of his slider. Najer Victor, a 24-year-old Angels minor leaguer, also leans heavily on a fastball/slider combo, but his fastball grades out higher than those of his two Great Britain teammates.

With the injection of Bahamian talent, Great Britain might be a win or two better than it was in 2023, but this team remains a long shot to advance out of pool play.

Uniforms Compared to 2023? Upgrade

All Great Britain really had to do to earn the upgrade here was fix the size and spacing on the letters, so mission accomplished. But I am going to miss the Big 5 Sporting Goods energy emanating from the 2023 uniforms.

Secondary Anthem: “Who Let the Dogs Out” by The Baha Men

Because the most significant improvement to the 2026 roster is one particular baha man.

Brazil

Full Roster

I can’t lead off this blurb with a summary of how Brazil did in the 2023 WBC, because this is Brazil’s first time qualifying for the tournament since 2013! So instead, we’ll cut straight to the roster. There are no big leaguers to highlight here, but there are several dudes with dads who were big leaguers — first baseman Dante Bichette Jr., son of outfielder Dante Bichette (bet you didn’t see that one coming!); outfielder Lucas Ramirez, son of outfielder Manny Ramirez; and pitcher Joseph Contreras, son of pitcher Jose Contreras. Bichette Jr. played eight seasons in the minors, topping out at Double-A before transitioning to the Mexican League. And I have to imagine his Brazilian teammates are giving him the business for not convincing his brother, All-Star Bo Bichette, to join the team as well. The younger Ramirez was selected in the 17th round of the 2024 draft by the Angels, but with only 226 plate appearances in pro ball so far, it’s tough to draw many conclusions. As such, the WBC will be his first chance to show what he can do when he’s not just playing on a back field somewhere in Arizona. The 17 year-old Contreras is still a senior in high school, so as with Ramirez, the WBC will be his introduction to the larger baseball world, too.

In addition to a handful of other minor leaguers, Team Brazil is made up of an assortment of players currently rostered in other international leagues — a few in Japan, one in Nicaragua, one in Venezuela, another in France, a few in Mexico — so it will be interesting to see how the variety of playing styles and skill levels mesh as a team.

It probably goes without saying that Brazil is unlikely to advance beyond pool play, but hopefully this team can get a win or two (whether literal or figurative).

Uniforms Compared to 2013? Upgrade

If the photos from this obscure auction website are legit, then the 2026 uniforms are incredibly similar to the 2013 version. It’s a slight upgrade because the 2026 uniforms don’t have the garish WBC logo on the sleeve.

Secondary Anthem: “Bailamos” by Enrique Iglesias

Because Brazil has qualified for the big dance for the first time in over a decade, and like several members of Team Brazil, Enrique Iglesias also has a very famous dad.