It has been three years since the last World Baseball Classic and the bitter taste of defeat is still in the minds of fans of Team USA baseball. The U.S. has a revamped lineup with more superstars than ever. Is this enough to take down the defending champion and powerhouse baseball country of Japan? My answer is yes.
Team USA is not the same as it was three years ago. The biggest thing that puts them over the edge is their top-end talent. In 2023, the top-end talent of the team was there with names like Mike Trout, Mookie Betts and Kyle Tucker.
However, now Team USA has a stacked team with reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge, 2025 home run leader Cal Raleigh and two-time MVP Bryce Harper. This seems to have been done to rival the superstars of Japan, like Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
The U.S. made significant upgrades in the pitching department. It now has true aces to rival the previously mentioned Ohtani and Yamamoto. The USA just added the two most recent Cy Young Award winners in Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes and Detroit Tigers southpaw Tarik Skubal. This replaces past-their-prime veterans Lance Lynn and Adam Wainwright, who were on the previous Team USA. Both Lynn and Wainwright went on to both pitch to an ERA north of 5.00, with Wainwright with an absurd 7.93 ERA in the former all-star’s final season.
While Japan retained many of its top players and has stars all over the field, like Toronto Blue Jays Kazuma Okamoto and Munetaka Murakami of the Chicago White Sox, the USA depth is a dream scenario.
The most important depth piece for the U.S. comes from north of the border in Blue Jays infielder Ernie Clement, who set an MLB record for hits in a single postseason with 30 in the Jays’ run to the World Series. Clement is also a super utility player able to play every infield position besides pitcher and catcher. If Team USA put him in the outfield, he would find his way. He is the perfect depth player who can hit, play hard and just flat out play everywhere.
While the world is constantly growing new baseball talent every year, in this edition of the WBC, I think the USA will outperform Japan. Both teams have the match set as the Dominican Republic and Venezuela present as massive threats this tournament. The USA’s improvement in top-end talent, pitching and depth players will ultimately lead them to victory in the 2026 World Baseball Classic.
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