10 stats and facts to know about the '26 Classic rosters

The 2026 World Baseball Classic is less than a month away. On Thursday night, we found out the 30-man rosters for each of the 20 federations that will take part in the epic tournament.

With so many names, there’s plenty of context to dig into, setting the stage for what we will get to watch play out in March.

Here’s a look at 10 stats and facts from the WBC rosters.

• Let’s start with the reigning award winners. Four of them from MLB, to be exact. With Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge, Paul Skenes and Tarik Skubal, this will be the first WBC with all four of MLB’s reigning MVP and Cy Young winners. The rosters also include Nippon Professional Baseball’s reigning Sawamura award winner, given to the top pitcher, in Hiromi Itoh, as well as reigning MVPs Teruaki Sato and Liván Moinelo (for Cuba). The previous reigning Cy Young winners to pitch in the WBC were 2023 Sandy Alcantara, 2013 R.A. Dickey and 2006 Bartolo Colon. The previous reigning MVPs to play in the WBC were 2023 Paul Goldschmidt, 2013 Miguel Cabrera, 2009 Dustin Pedroia, 2006 Alex Rodriguez and 2006 Albert Pujols.

• There are plenty of newcomers as always, but also many stalwarts who have already played in multiple Classics. In 2023, Miguel Cabrera set the standard with his fifth WBC playing in at least one game in each of the first five editions of the tournament. Cabrera is retired now, but two other frequent flyers will tie him with their fifth Classics when they appear in a game. Cuba’s Alfredo Despaigne has appeared in each dating to the 2009 WBC and is on Cuba’s roster again. The 37-year-old is the all-time WBC home run leader with seven. And the Netherlands’ Shairon Martis, who pitched in each previous Classic except for 2009, is rostered as well.

• What about appearing for two teams in a WBC career? With the eligibility criteria, a player could end up a candidate for multiple federations based on his lineage, not just his country of birth. This year, Nolan Arenado, who played for Team USA in both 2017 and 2023, is on Puerto Rico’s roster with lineage on his mother’s side. When he appears in a game, Arenado will become the fifth player to represent multiple teams in the tournament.

• The youngest player on any roster is 17-year-old pitcher Joseph Contreras on Team Brazil. Born May 6, 2008, he is the son of former MLB pitcher José Contreras. Brazil has each of the three youngest players on all rosters, with pitcher Pietro Albanez, who turns 18 on March 15, and catcher Enzo Hayashida, who turned 18 on New Year’s Day. There have been seven players to appear in a WBC game before turning 18, four of which were pitchers, per Elias, a list Contreras and Albanez could join. The last time a player aged 17 or younger appeared in a WBC game was when Brazil’s 16-year-old Daniel Missaki — now on Brazil’s roster again at age 29 — pitched in 2013. At 18 years and 64 days on the first day of the tournament, Hayashida would be the youngest non-pitcher to appear in a WBC game since the first tournament in 2006, when four position players younger than him played.

• Hayashida is one of three position players who could become the youngest to homer in a WBC game, a record currently held at 20 years and 19 days by Great Britain’s Harry Ford in 2023. Czechia’s Max Prejda is 18 and Australia’s Max Durrington will turn 19 later this month.

• The oldest player on any roster is nine-year MLB veteran Alexei Ramírez for Cuba. The 44-year-old would be the oldest to appear in a WBC game. The oldest, as it stands now, was Roger Clemens at 43 years and 224 days in 2006. The oldest non-pitcher was Nelson Cruz at 42 years and 256 days in 2023. Ramírez played in the inaugural Classic in 2006 as a 24-year-old, two years before coming to MLB.

• There are four other players who will be at least 40 years old on WBC rosters. Korea’s Kyung Eun Noh will turn 42 on March 11. Brazil’s Tiago Da Silva, Italy’s Ottavino and Czechia’s Martin Schneider are all 40. Contrast them with the fact that there are seven players on rosters who were not born when the first WBC was played in 2006 — the aforementioned Contreras, Altbanez, Hayashida, Prejda and Durrington, along with the Netherlands’ Jaitoine Kelly (18) and Korea’s Woo Joo Jeong (19), both of whom are pitchers.

• The two oldest players to homer in a WBC game were Atsunori Inaba in 2013 for Japan at 40 years and 219 days and Moises Alou for the Dominican Republic in 2006 at 39 years and 249 days. They are the only two to homer in the WBC at age 39 or older, a list that Ramirez could join, as could the Dominican Republic’s Carlos Santana, Colombia’s Reynaldo Rodriguez, Puerto Rico’s Martin Maldonado and Australia’s Tim Kennelly, all of whom are 39 and the oldest rostered non-pitchers beyond the 44-year-old Ramírez.

• Travis Bazzana of Team Australia and Team USA’s Bryce Harper and Skenes would join six previous tournament participants who were the number one overall selections in the MLB Draft. The No. 1 overall picks to play in the event thus far are Hall of Famers Ken Griffey Jr., Chipper Jones and Joe Mauer, along with Adrián González, Alex Rodriguez and Carlos Correa.

• The rosters feature an all-time high 78 MLB All-Stars, including 36 players who were 2025 All-Stars, along with 306 MLB-affiliated players, with 190 of those on MLB 40-man rosters. The Phillies and Red Sox have the most 40-man players participating, with 11 each. The Mets and Mariners have the most players from their overall organization participating, with 17 and 16, respectively.