Author: rincon

In the three years since Shohei Ohtani struck out Mike Trout to end a riveting 2023 World Baseball Classic, winning the tournament in 2026 has consumed Mark DeRosa’s every thought.

To give his team the best chance, the Team USA manager knew there had to be a shift. 

“You see it from every other country, their best arms show up,” DeRosa said at the winter meetings in early December. “For whatever reason, the United States, our best arms don’t show up. That being said, we’re trying to change that narrative.”

DeRosa expressed his appreciation for the commitment of the pitchers who threw for Team USA over the years, but it was hardly a representation of the best the country had to offer.

In 2023, the team’s four starting pitchers in the World Baseball Classic were Merrill Kelly, Lance Lynn, Nick Martinez and a 41-year-old Adam Wainwright. They were all established MLB veterans coming off respectable seasons, but they were also all over the age of 30. None of them had won a Cy Young before, and they had a combined five career All-Star appearances among them — three of which belonged to Wainwright in the early 2010s.

While it was USA’s high-powered offense that ultimately cratered in the final, when Japan won 3-2, the U.S. pitching staff was more middling than overpowering throughout the tournament. USA ranked sixth among the 20 countries in the 2023 WBC in ERA (4.20), eighth in opponents’ batting average (.255), 10th in average fastball velocity (91.5 mph) and 11th in strikeouts per nine innings (8.25). 

This year, Team USA should obliterate those numbers with the best rotation and pitching staff it has ever assembled. 

Aaron Judge was the first player named to the 2026 U.S. roster as the team captain last April. Getting the three-time MVP to participate in the WBC for the first time is an obvious boost to USA’s chances as it seeks to reclaim its spot atop the international stage after winning the tournament in 2017. 

But an arguably bigger announcement came weeks later, when Paul Skenes announced his commitment to the club. 

“Skenes,” DeRosa said, “changes the game.”

Nearly a year before the 2026 WBC began, Team USA already had the AL MVP and the NL Cy Young in hand. That made for an effective recruiting tool as DeRosa and general manager Michael Hill built a roster that now looks more than capable of avenging USA’s 2023 defeat. 

The starting rotation is such a behemoth that Matthew Boyd, a 2025 All-Star starting pitcher for the Cubs, will likely serve in a piggyback role. 

“When you have someone of Paul Skenes’ stature saying ‘yes’ early on for the right reasons, someone like Aaron Judge doing the same, you go, ‘Man, I want to be part of it like those guys are,” Boyd told me. “I gotta say, I would’ve been doing it regardless, but when you get guys of their stature, it does bring people in. Those guys are the top of the game. You want to play with the best, too, and that’s something that’s really the cherry on top.” 

Persuading offensive standouts to play has never been much of an issue for a U.S. club that included Mookie Betts, Kyle Schwarber, Mike Trout and Trea Turner in the last tournament. But getting star pitchers to commit while ramping up for a long MLB season — and assuming the potential injury risk that comes with that decision — has historically been a trickier endeavor. 

The presence of Skenes, the top overall pick in 2023 who was named the National League Rookie of the Year in 2024 and the NL Cy Young in 2025, changed the dynamic. 

“It’s just a matter of one guy doing it,” said Bobby Witt Jr., “and a domino effect.”

For Skenes, who played his first two college seasons at the Air Force Academy before transferring to LSU and was a member of the 12U and collegiate USA national teams, the choice was simple. 

Growing up watching the WBC as a kid, he never thought he’d have the opportunity to play in one. He knew if he did, he wouldn’t pass it up. So when DeRosa called, it didn’t take any convincing. 

“It’s Team USA,” Skenes said. “There’s no thought needed for it.”

In December, more pitching announcements came flooding in. Early that month, Boyd announced he would be joining Skenes on the USA staff. He wanted to pitch for the U.S. team in the last tournament but wasn’t healthy at the time and hoped he’d get another opportunity. When DeRosa called him, the stars aligned. 

“If you don’t want competition, you’re in the wrong industry,” Boyd said. “I think all of us yearn for that competition, yearn for the big stage, yearn to compete against the best and want to go show why we are at that level. You train for those opportunities. So any time you present someone with that opportunity, at least for me personally, I’m magnetised toward those sorts of things.”

Boyd will be pitching in a multiple-inning capacity to stretch out his pitch count as he builds up for the 2026 season, but given the talent on the staff, it is likely that he’ll be coming out of the bullpen. Weeks after Boyd committed, Team USA also announced the additions of Twins All-Star starter Joe Ryan, two-time All-Star Clay Holmes and Mets prospect Nolan McLean — arguably the top pitching prospect in all of MLB — to the roster on Dec. 17. One day later, Tarik Skubal posted an emoji of the American flag on X, signaling his intention to join the group. 

Suddenly, the Americans had the reigning NL and AL Cy Young Award winners forming the best 1-2 pitching punch in the tournament and leading the best pitching staff in Team USA history. 

“You see Skenes and Skubal decide,” said USA reliever Gabe Speier, “everyone else wants to be part of it.” 

On the same day of Skubal’s announcement, Giants All-Star Logan Webb also officially joined the group. In Skubal, Skenes and Webb, the top three pitchers in the USA rotation have combined for three Cy Young Awards and six All-Star nods in the last two seasons alone. 

Webb had initially committed to pitch for USA in the 2023 WBC but ultimately backed out as he was finalizing a long-term extension in San Francisco. Still, he told DeRosa at the time that it was always something he wanted to do at some point, so the USA manager stayed on him over the last few years. 

“The ending, Shohei Ohtani vs. Mike Trout, it just excites you as a baseball fan,” Webb told me. “I was at the edge of my seat watching it, and I wanted to be a part of it. I think DeRo texted me 100 times these last three years, and I’d hear it from other people, ‘Hey, DeRo said you’re playing in this. Mookie Betts, I did his podcast, and he said, ‘You better play’ — and then he’s not playing, of course — but it was something I wanted to do.”

Shortly after the 2025 season ended, Webb was on country singer ERNEST’s tour bus with Team USA bullpen coach David Ross and talk-show host Pat McAfee in Nashville when he finalized his decision. 

“I told Rossy, ‘Text DeRo, tell him I’ll do it,’” Webb recalled. “It was something I wanted to do, and it was a cool moment, and I was like, ‘I’m going to do it.’ I was already thinking about it, and it wasn’t that difficult a decision to be honest.”

At the time, the addition of Webb might’ve seemed superfluous given the talent already in place. But with Skubal announcing that he’ll only make one start ahead of a contract year and with Ryan dealing with a lower back issue that will force him out of pool play, it could now be the difference in winning a championship. 

Weeks before the tournament began, a text thread had started among the players on the team. 

“DeRosa’s like, ‘We’re winning this thing, we gotta redeem ourselves,’” Speier told me. “There’s a bit of redemption involved, so it makes it even more high stakes.” 

Webb, who is slated to start USA’s opener on March 6 against Brazil, enters the tournament with contract security after signing a five-year, $90 million extension in 2023. Many others are pitching without the same long-term safety net. Skenes and McLean are still pre-arbitration, most of the relievers on the team are in their arbitration years, and Skubal, Boyd and David Bednar are among the pitchers on the roster entering their final seasons under contract. (Holmes is, too, with a player option for 2027.) 

But they believed the benefits of pitching in the WBC, and the opportunity to represent their country and take back the title, outweighed any potential downsides. 

“Obviously the risk is still there, especially for those of us that are entering free agency,” Boyd said. “But I know for me, first and foremost, the opportunity to represent your country is the highest honor in sport.”

Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on X at @RowanKavner.

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

Nearly three years ago, Edwin Diaz got Teoscar Hernandez looking with an inside slider on the 10th pitch of the at-bat and raised his hands into the air as his Team Puerto Rico teammates emptied out of the dugout to celebrate in Miami.

Díaz’s spotless work in the ninth preserved an upset win over the Dominican Republic to advance to the quarterfinals of the 2023 World Baseball Classic. The Puerto Rican players marked the occasion by hopping up and down in front of the mound. 

Moments later, the star closer was on the ground grabbing at his knee. In a freak accident amid the revelry, Díaz tore his patellar tendon, forcing him out for the entire 2023 season. 

Three years later, the fluke injury has not deterred him from returning to the competition, especially with his country set to host Pool A in San Juan starting March 6. 

“That was an easy decision,” Díaz said. “It’ll be my first time playing in front of my people in Puerto Rico, so that was an easy ‘yes’ when I knew the WBC was going to be there.” 

Nevertheless, the devastating injury to Díaz is among the reasons why it has been more difficult for other prominent MLB players to receive clearance to play in the tournament this year — fellow Puerto Rico standouts Francisco Lindor and Carlos Correa, for example, are among the notable standouts who weren’t able to get insured — and why many MLB managers still hold their breath when their players perform in the highly-competitive competition just weeks ahead of Opening Day. 

“We want our players to play well and want them to show off,” said Padres manager Craig Stammen. “The other part, it’s all in the back of our heads, we want them to stay healthy and be ready for us, not have a catastrophic injury that sometimes happens in the WBC.”

The Díaz injury was the most significant one in 2023, though Jose Altuve also missed the first 43 games of the regular season that year after fracturing his thumb when he was hit by a pitch in the WBC. Altuve only played in 90 games that year, marking the only full season since 2012 in which he has played fewer than 120 games. 

In 2017, Miguel Cabrera injured his back during the WBC and went on to have the worst offensive season of his career to that point while playing through pain for most of it. 

Sometimes, especially with pitchers, it’s not clear at the moment how the wear-and-tear of throwing high-leverage innings early in the calendar might lead to issues later in the year. In 2017, Drew Smyly struck out eight batters in 4.2 innings against Venezuela in a WBC game on March 17. Two weeks later, he was diagnosed with a flexor strain. He eventually needed Tommy John surgery and did not throw a pitch that season for the Mariners. 

In 2023, Shohei Ohtani and Sandy Alcántara both started the year pitching in the WBC and ended it undergoing Tommy John surgery. It’s impossible to know with any certainty if the early start led to the end result, but it’s another example of why teams worry more about pitchers than position players in the event. 

“That’s not a WBC thing,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell clarified, “that’s an everyday thing.” 

Counsell noted that the WBC is a thrilling event for players who get to play deep into the tournament, and all he is worried about is that his players who are participating — there are many from the Cubs, with Alex Bregman (USA), Pete Crow-Armstrong (USA), Matthew Boyd (USA), Seiya Suzuki (Japan), Javier Assad (Mexico), Daniel Palencia (Venezuela), Miguel Amaya (Panama) and Jameson Taillon (Canada) all going — take ownership of their preparation. 

“Because you don’t necessarily have the whole organization structuring everything quite the way they would if you were in your team’s camp,” Counsell explained. “That’s really the onus that kind of falls on the players.” 

In addition to Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and Wandy Peralta playing for the Dominican Republic, Xander Bogaerts playing for the Netherlands and Ron Marinaccio playing for Italy, the Padres will also be sending Mason Miller, the star of their esteemed bullpen, to close out games for Team USA.

Weeks before players left for the WBC, Stammen said Padres pitching coach Ruben Niebla was in discussion with Team USA pitching coach Andy Pettitte about Miller’s usage. Miller and the Padres’ brass were also in constant communication with each other before he left to join Team USA, making sure his build-up for the season is where he wants and needs it to be. 

“We’d be lying to you if we weren’t cautious about it and trying to figure out the best way to get Mason ready for that scenario,” Stammen told me. “Mason’s said a lot of good things to us about how he thinks that’ll look, but in the end it’s going to be up to him in those situations to tell Mark DeRosa and Andy Pettite, like, ‘Hey, this is how I’d like to be used, this will get me ready for my season while also helping Team USA hopefully compete for the WBC championship.”

Díaz, now in his first year with the Dodgers, will be trying to create more positive moments at this tournament with Puerto Rico. The defending World Series champions will also be sending Will Smith to join Team USA, Hyeseong Kim to join Team Korea and Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto to join Team Japan. Ohtani will only be hitting, which minimizes much of the risk, but Yamamoto will be Japan’s ace fresh off winning World Series MVP honors after throwing 526 pitches in the postseason and pitching on back-to-back days in Games 6 and 7.  

“I just know the level of intensity that they will have, and so it’s more just making sure the work up to this point, that we’re putting them in the best positions to go take on that intense atmosphere,” said Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman. “It is impossible to tell those guys to dial it back in any way, and nor would I do that.”

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts claims he’s “not too concerned” about Yamamoto because he believes the pitcher will be prepared and understands his limitations, despite the high-pressure, high-intensity, highly-competitive environment that will await. 

“Once we all came to the decision that he’s gonna play and participate, I’m just rooting for him to pitch well and stay healthy,” Roberts said. “So I don’t think I’m looking at it any other way.” 

Beyond the conversations that MLB teams and WBC managers are having about individual players, the tournament itself provides some protection. 

Per WBC rules, pitchers can’t throw more than 65 pitches in a game in the first round, 80 pitches in the second round or 95 pitches in the championship round (unless he needs more to complete an at-bat). In addition, pitchers who throw 30 pitches in a game will need at least one day of rest, and pitchers who throw at least 50 pitches in a game will need at least four days of rest before pitching again. Relievers also won’t be able to throw three days in a row. 

“Anybody will tell you anytime you take the mound, whether it’s a spring training game or WBC game, there are risks associated with that,” Giants and Great Britain pitcher Tristan Beck told me. “But I think they do as good a job as they can with pitch limits, days off. They take it pretty seriously, and that makes it comfortable on our end.”

It’s a risk that everyone who is participating is willing to take in order to represent their country in an international competition that continues drawing more eyes and acclaim. 

Before he left Dodgers camp to join Puerto Rico again, Díaz was asked if the WBC or World Series meant more. 

“I haven’t had the chance to play in the World Series, but I heard people say it’s about the same,” Díaz said. “So when I have a chance to play in the World Series, I’ll tell you guys how it feels.”

Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on X at @RowanKavner.
 

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

Can Team USA and its star-studded lineup and rotation win it all at the 2026 World Baseball Classic?  

It begins with Friday’s Pool B opener against Brazil at Daiken Park, home of the Houston Astros. All four of its games in Pool B will be played at Daikin Park (home of the Houston Astros) against Brazil, Great Britain, Mexico, Italy.

Team USA’s first game will be Friday, March 6, at 8 p.m. ET on FOX. 

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How to Watch the 2026 World Baseball Classic

FOX is your exclusive home to the WBC with games spread across the FOX family of networks. 

FOX is set to air seven games, including three Pool B games featuring the United States team, two quarterfinals games and the World Baseball Classic Championship Game on Tuesday, March 17 from Miami’s loanDepot Park. The remaining matchups will air across FS1, FS2, the FOX Sports app, FOX One and Tubi. All 47 games will be available for streaming. Catch the action on the following streaming options:

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• FOXSports.com and FOX Sports App
• FOX One
• Tubi

World Baseball Classic Gambling Guide: USA or The Field?



Team USA Starting Pitcher vs. Brazil

San Francisco Giants ace Logan Webb will start on the mound for Team USA in its first World Baseball Classic game Friday night against Brazil, manager Mark DeRosa said.

DeRosa added that two-time defending AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal is expected to start Saturday against Britain, followed by NL Cy Young winner Paul Skenes versus Mexico on Monday.

New York Mets right-hander Nolan McLean is tentatively scheduled to start on Tuesday in the final pool-play game against Italy, even though he’s dealing with an illness and wasn’t with Team USA for Monday’s practice.

Team USA Starting Lineup vs. Brazil

Team USA manager Mark DeRosa has yet to announce his starting lineup for Friday’s game. Expect a lineup that includes Aaron Judge, Bryce Harper and Cal Raleigh. 

In an exhibition win over the Rockies on Wednesday, Judge crushed a 453-foot solo homer in the first inning of the team’s exhibition game. Alex Bregman, Paul Goldschmidt, Will Smith and Byron Buxton also went deep. Brice Turang had two doubles and two RBIs.

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

Korea hit four home runs and defeated Czechia, 11-4, in the first game for either team in the 2026 World Baseball Classic. The four homers marked a WBC high for Korea.

Two of the long balls came off the bat of Shay Whitcomb, a Houston Astros infielder who split his 2025 season between the majors and the minor leagues. The 27-year-old drove in 3 runs, second on Korea for the day behind first baseman Bo Gyeong Moon, who had 5 RBIs and 2 runs on a pair of hits in 3 at-bats.

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Korea struck early with a grand slam in the first inning from Moon, then scored once in each of the next two innings. Czechia starting pitcher Daniel Padysak recorded just one out before he was lifted, but the rest of their pitchers did not fare much better, allowing a run in all but two innings of the contest.

Czechia scored 4 runs but could have scored more; instead, they left the bases loaded in the second inning as starting pitcher, right-hander Hyeong Jun So, escaped the jam. Czechia then quickly fell even further behind Korea. Terrin Vavra, who has 68 games of MLB experience with the Orioles, gave Czechia its first runs of the tournament with a 3-run home run in the fifth inning.

Australia—Czechia later

The third Pool C game in Tokyo will be between Australia (1-0) and Czechia at 10 p.m. ET on FS1. Defending champion Japan opens play in Group C on Friday against Chinese Taipei.

The top two teams in the group advance to the quarterfinals in the United States, joining the top two in the other three groups.

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Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

Australia opened the World Baseball Classic on Thursday by beating Chinese Taipei 3-0 on Robbie Perkins‘ two-run homer in the fifth inning and Travis Bazzana’s homer in the seventh at the Tokyo Dome.

The two big swings were enough in a tight game dominated by pitching on both sides. Chinese Taipei managed only three hits, and Australia had seven.

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It was a critical victory for Australia, which also won its first game in 2023, defeating South Korea enroute to reaching the quarterfinals and a narrow 4-3 loss to Cuba.

Australian starter Alex Wells pitched three no-hit innings with Jack O’Loughlin negotiating the next three and allowing only two hits and setting the stage for the bullpen.

O’Laughlin got the victory with a save for Jon Kennedy. Po-Yu Chen was the losing pitcher.

Following Perkins’ homer, Chinese Taipei put two runners on in the sixth with two out but failed to score. The second to reach base was Chieh-hsien Chen who was hit by a pitch on the his right hand and left the game.

Australia loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth and failed to score when Chris Burke popped out on the second pitch from reliever Yi Chang.

Bazzana, who is expected to start in Triple A this season in the Cleveland Guardians farm system, added the insurance run on a towering shot to right field. Bazzana was the first pick in the 2024 MLB amateur draft.

Chinese Taipei put two runners on the top of the ninth and almost tied the game on a deep flyout by Lyle Lin.

South Korea—Czechia later

In the second Group C game later in Tokyo, South Korea faced Czechia. Defending champion Japan opens play in Group C on Friday against Chinese Taipei.

The top two teams in the group advance to the quarterfinals in the United States, joining the top two in the other three groups.

]–>

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

Australia opened the World Baseball Classic on Thursday by beating Chinese Taipei 3-0 on Robbie Perkins‘ two-run homer in the fifth inning and Travis Bazzana’s homer in the seventh at the Tokyo Dome.

The two big swings were enough in a tight game dominated by pitching on both sides. Chinese Taipei managed only three hits, and Australia had seven.

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It was a critical victory for Australia, which also won its first game in 2023, defeating South Korea enroute to reaching the quarterfinals and a narrow 4-3 loss to Cuba.

Australian starter Alex Wells pitched three no-hit innings with Jack O’Loughlin negotiating the next three and allowing only two hits and setting the stage for the bullpen.

O’Laughlin got the victory with a save for Jon Kennedy. Po-Yu Chen was the losing pitcher.

Following Perkins’ homer, Chinese Taipei put two runners on in the sixth with two out but failed to score. The second to reach base was Chieh-hsien Chen who was hit by a pitch on the his right hand and left the game.

Australia loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth and failed to score when Chris Burke popped out on the second pitch from reliever Yi Chang.

Bazzana, who is expected to start in Triple A this season in the Cleveland Guardians farm system, added the insurance run on a towering shot to right field. Bazzana was the first pick in the 2024 MLB amateur draft.

Chinese Taipei put two runners on the top of the ninth and almost tied the game on a deep flyout by Lyle Lin.

South Korea—Czechia later

In the second Group C game later in Tokyo, South Korea faced the Czech Republic. Defending champion Japan opens play in Group C on Friday against Taiwan.

The top two teams in the group advance to the quarterfinals in the United States, joining the top two in the other three groups.

]–>

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

Team Australia infielder Travis Bazzana has yet to make his Major League Baseball debut, but he has already made MLB history. 

Bazzana became the first Australian-born player to be drafted in the first round when the Cleveland Guardians made him the first overall pick in 2024. Two years later, the top prospect is knocking at MLB’s door. 

After finishing last year at Triple-A, where he had an .858 OPS in 26 games before his season was cut short by an oblique injury, Bazzana was a non-roster invite at big-league camp this spring. He’s far from a lock to make the Opening Day roster, but he’s on track to be patrolling second base in Cleveland at some point this year. 

Before that happens, though, Bazzana has another debut to make. 

He’ll lead his home country in the World Baseball Classic for the first time when the tournament kicks off with Australia facing Chinese Taipei at the Tokyo Dome. 

Two weeks before Bazzana left for Japan, I caught up with the 23-year-old infielder to talk about growing up playing baseball in the suburbs of Sydney, why and how he was drawn to the sport, the food he misses most from back home, the allure of representing Australia in the WBC, his 2026 goals and more. 

I know you played cricket and other more popular Australian sports growing up. What drew you to baseball? 

My dad played a lot of sports. He played rugby, cricket, baseball primarily, and he was solid at all three. I’m the youngest of three boys, and they were around the field, Dad was around the baseball club, and I just took a lot of attention to it. I would ask my parents to hit tee-ball. I would be the bat boy for my older brothers and run around the field. I loved every second of just being at the baseball field and watching and taking it all in. It never got pushed on me, neither my brothers, but it became my identity early on. 

As early as I can remember writing about what I wanted to do, it was like I wanted to be a baseball player, and everyone knew I played baseball. That was just like my thing. I played all the other sports, but baseball is what I took a passion to. If I had a chance to sit down with free time when I was little, I was watching MLB.com highlights.

How hard was it to find people to play baseball with in Australia? 

There are lots of baseball clubs and lots of Little League systems and things in place for grassroots baseball in Australia that made playing consistently fairly easy, but in terms of finding friends that aren’t at the baseball club to play with, like I didn’t play any backyard baseball with friends growing up, really. Maybe when we had, like, my team meet up and do that. 

[TOP 10 WBC MOMENTS: What makes the all-time list?]

But if I was with my school friends, it was rugby or cricket at the park on the weekend when we had free time. At school, recess or whatever, it was cricket, touch rugby, sometimes basketball, sometimes soccer, never baseball. At my high school, there were only a couple kids that played baseball and not at a high level, really. In terms of finding people to play with, it was like I would be going to the baseball field to do that. I wasn’t playing wiffle ball, I was playing backyard cricket.

Can you describe growing up in Turramurra for those who aren’t familiar?

It’s a very nice northern suburb of Sydney. Lots of good parks. Lots of good clubs for all kinds of sports. Good schools. It’s a great spot. Let’s just say the house prices in Turramurra are probably booming right now and have been. They’re insanely high, so it’s a good spot, and I was lucky to grow up there. But yeah, if you walked around Turramurra, you’d probably find some kids playing rugby and cricket.

When did playing pro start to feel like a real possibility for you? 

I think when I was like 14 was when it really started to kick in that I was going to get a chance to pursue what I had always worked for. I was 14 when I was playing in the 15U national tournament in Australia, and I felt like I could hold my own with some of the older kids, and there was some pro scouting interest starting to arise. So that was when I was like, OK, I think I’ll be capable to at least take some kind of path toward pro baseball, whether that was go pro or go to college. I really started to kick in the planning for that.

Is there a place or type of food you miss the most when you’re not home? 

One thing that’s really cool about Australia is we have really good sushi for not a premium. You can find great sushi spots all around where you get, like, really quality rolls for $3-5. So you have lunch, get three good sushi rolls for $12, and the quality’s great, and there’s no issues, and it’s consistent. Here, you go to a sushi place, and they charge you $18 for a roll, and you’re like, from my perspective, that’s like five times too much. It’s rice with a little bit of fish. The upcharge here is big. They make sushi the very boujee thing in America, and it doesn’t have to be. 

Considering this will be your first time competing for Australia at the WBC, how well do you know the other guys on the team?  

There are only a couple of guys on the roster that I grew up sort of playing with or against. The majority of those guys, it was sort of academies, Australian Academy or our state academies back home where maybe they’re a couple of years older than me, but all the best youth players would kind of get together. 

There are times when I was around some of them then. Most of the rest of the players were people I kind of watched on the men’s team in the last 10 years when I was coming up that I hadn’t spent much time around, maybe played a game or two against them in the Australian Baseball League when I was young before I went to college. I definitely knew who all of them were, and then I got to play with most of those guys last year in the Premier12 tournament. So I kind of know everyone on the team now, but from childhood it was mainly watching most of the guys.

How much fun was it to watch Australia advance out of the first round for the first time in 2023? How quickly did you decide you wanted to participate in 2026?

I was wishing I could have been on that team. I was in college watching, but I was in the middle of a season and hadn’t really earned that right yet, but they did an incredible job that year, and people stepped up in huge situations, and that whole roster really played their role and did a great job. It was something that was on my mind for a long time, and that kind of cemented, ‘This next tournament, I’m going to get the chance,’ and I let everyone know that was what I wanted to do, and now it’s almost here.

I know you dealt with a couple of oblique injuries last year. When did you start to feel right again, and what’s your goal for 2026? 

The last oblique issue happened like the second to last week of the season in Columbus, so I went home right after the season and was doing rehab work but nothing very intense and a lot of just relaxing with family. Once I got back from Australia and I was finished traveling and was able to ramp back up, I would say I was feeling good. By Nov. 10, I was kind of clear of that, so obliques were clear by November, and I had a really strong build-up.

Looking ahead, I’m just trying to make the most of camp. Obviously, the big leagues are on the horizon, but it’s just about performing and continuing to get better and showing the big-league staff what I can do. Once it’s there, just enjoy the game, play hard like I have, and everything should take care of itself.

Can you see the opportunity ahead?

Yeah, 100%. I’m in big-league camp and get to take reps with guys that have been there, done that, every day. I feel like it’s right around the corner. I’ve just got to do what I can, and if opportunity arises, just take it with both hands.

Was it a hard choice to leave camp knowing how close you are to the big leagues? 

It’s something I thought about, but it was never going to shy me away from going and doing [the WBC]. At the end of the day, if I was going somewhere that was a cool event to not play baseball, it would make sense. But I’m going to play on one of the biggest stages in the world. In my opinion, it competes with playoff baseball in MLB. I think if I’m physically prepared, there’s almost not a better way to get good game reps in an important environment to prepare for a season. So there’s obviously a team aspect that I’ll be missing here for like 12 days, maybe 10 days, and hopefully more if we go to Miami. But at the end of the day, if I’m playing against some of the best players in the world, in front of 60,000 or 50,000 in the Tokyo Dome, whatever it is, I think it’s a positive no matter what. Hopefully, I can make the most of that and come back.

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports