Naming the All-World Baseball Classic second team roster

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The World Baseball Classic is over and the MLB regular season is about to begin. But before we launch headlong into a new year, I wanted to take one last look at the greatest global baseball tourney on the planet. There was already an official all-tournament team that was led by MVP Award winner Maikel Garcia, but today, I wanted to name an (unofficial) All-Tournament second team. There are a lot of players from all around the world who deserve an extra moment to be remembered.

Here’s my list:

C: J.J. D’Orazio, Italy

D’Orazio was given a difficult task: Before the tournament, veteran national team catcher Alberto Mineo went down with an injury. Kyle Teel then strained his hamstring as Italy upset the USA. That meant that D’Orazio, who signed with the Angels this winter, was pressed into starting duty. All he did was help Italy make a run to the semifinals by going 5-for-13 with a home run and five RBIs.

1B: Bo Gyeong Moon, Korea

Moon went off in the Tokyo pool, helping get his team on the airplane bound for Miami -- which is how Team Korea celebrated every home run-- by smashing two home runs and driving in a pool-record 11 RBIs. He started with a grand slam against Czechia and then added a crucial two-run home run against Australia. Korea needed every single one of those runs to advance to the quarterfinals.

2B: Tsung-Che Cheng, Chinese Taipei

Cheng played a big part in Chinese Taipei’s hopes of advancing beyond pool play. He stole four bases -- the most in the tournament -- and his home run helped Chinese Taipei defeat Korea for the first time in World Baseball Classic history.

3B: Abraham Toro, Canada

Toro helped Canada go beyond the group stage for the first time in WBC history. The third baseman went 8-for-19 with three doubles, a triple, a home run and five RBIs. His five ribbies tied him with Owen Caissie for team lead.

SS: Sosuke Genda, Japan

Genda, a veteran of the 2023 championship team, is known for his glove, being one of the smoothest defenders in the world. But at the 2026 tournament, it was Genda’s bat that jumped out: He was 5-for-10 and drew four walks, posting an absurd .500/.667/.500 line. He drove in four runs and scored four times while continuing to play sparking defense.

OF: Jarren Duran, Mexico

After getting into just two games for the team in 2023, Duran was a star for Mexico this time around. Despite failing to get out of the group stage, Duran smashed three home runs -- including two against the United States -- stole two bases and posted a 1.412 OPS across four games.

OF: Wilyer Abreu, Venezuela

Duran’s Red Sox teammate came up huge in Venezuela’s title run. He smashed the game-winning three-run home run to knock Japan out in the quarterfinals -- the first time Japan ever failed to reach the semis -- and added another crucial home run against the U.S. in the championship game. His seven RBIs were tied with Maikel Garcia for second on the team behind Luis Arraez. Both Garcia and Arraez were named to the official all-tournament team.

OF: Stuart Fairchild, Chinese Taipei

Fairchild may have gone 3-for-12 in the tourney, but two of those hits were home runs. He smashed a backbreaking grand slam against Czechia before hitting the ultimate game-winning two-run home run to defeat Korea and keep CT’s hopes of advancing alive. Fairchild also drew four walks and stole three bases.

DH: Junior Caminero, Dominican Republic

The D.R. may not have won the tourney, but its powerhouse lineup set the record for most home runs hit in a single WBC with 15. Caminero was directly responsible for that, tying for the tourney lead with three home runs and smashing the record-setting blast against Paul Skenes in the D.R. loss. He posted a .350/.409/.850 line across 20 at-bats.

P: Enmanuel De Jesus, Venezuela

This was a difficult choice as there were reasons to select teammates Daniel Palencia (3 saves, 9 K's in 5 IP) and Eduardo Rodriguez (4 1/3 one-hit innings in the championship game), but I chose the pitcher whose WBC performance literally put him on the Tigers' Opening Day roster. The KBO veteran struck out a team-record eight batters against Israel and then shut down Japan for 2 1/3 innings, adding three more K's in Venezuela’s victory.

P: Ondřej Satoria, Czechia

The people’s hero! The electrical engineer from Ostrava struck out Shohei Ohtani, Lars Nootbaar and Munetaka Murakami in 2023, becoming a viral sensation along the way. He became an even bigger star this spring.

After tossing 3 2/3 shutout innings against Australia, Satoria returned to befuddle Samurai Japan’s loaded lineup for 4 2/3 frames before walking off the field for the last time on the national team. He drew a standing ovation, spurring another round of interviews and worldwide acclaim. He gave up zero runs in 8 1/3 innings – tied with Paul Skenes for third-most in the tourney.

P: Enzo Sawayama, Brazil

Satoria threw the most innings for any pitcher without surrendering a run, but Sawayama was only one-third of an inning behind. Sawayama helped Brazil reach the Classic, earning the victory in a start against Germany in the Tucson Qualifier. Though Brazil was unable to secure a victory in this year’s tournament, being relegated back to a Qualifier, it wasn’t for Sawayama’s lack of effort. Sawayama tossed a combined eight shutout innings against Great Britain and semifinalists Italy, striking out six along the way.