This is an excerpt from the latest edition of Michael Clair's International Beat Newsletter, bringing global baseball news to your inbox every month. Sign up for future installments HERE and check out the full newsletter HERE.

OSAKA -- When Tokyo's Pool C ends, two teams will head to Haneda Airport and fly to Miami for the quarterfinals. For Korea, which hasn't advanced out of the first round since reaching the championship in 2009, the mission begins there. So, during this week's two exhibition games in Osaka,

After three years of waiting, the World Baseball Classic is almost here. I mean, it starts this very week. Assuming that you may have a job, family, and -- gasp -- other commitments beyond watching baseball for nearly 24 hours a day (given that games in Japan have start times

On Thursday night, in a crisp white jersey with a flourish of blue script reminiscent of his days with the Dodgers, Dusty Baker took the dugout for the first time as Nicaragua's manager. The national team was playing the first of a four-game exhibition series against international baseball rival Cuba

After going winless in the country's first World Baseball Classic in 2023, Nicaragua surprised many as it swept its way through the Taipei Qualifier last March. But these weren't blowouts: Nicaragua pulled off back-to-back 2-1 victories in the 10th inning against South Africa and Spain before defeating the hosts, Chinese

Korea's national baseball team was riding high in the early 2000s. In the years following Chan-Ho Park's debut as the first Korean-born player in the Major Leagues in 1994, the sport's popularity exploded, leading to a gold medal at the 2008 Olympic games and a heartbreaking, extra-innings loss to Japan

Korea comes to the tournament at a turning point for its baseball program. The team dominated in the early-aughts, winning gold at the 2008 Olympics and going to extra innings before losing to Japan in the 2009 World Baseball Classic finals. Since then, however, the national team has struggled, failing

The fan favorite Czechia -- a team consisting almost entirely of amateur players born and developed in the Czech Republic -- has a new Major Leaguer joining the team for the 2026 World Baseball Classic. Though second baseman Eric Sogard will have to miss the tournament due to injury (his

With a roster almost entirely homegrown and with players having day jobs ranging from firefighter to teacher to electrician (even the manager, Pavel Chadim, is a noted neurologist in Brno), Czechia became fan favorites at the 2023 World Baseball Classic. Despite having just one Major Leaguer on its roster --

If you’re reading this, you don’t need me to tell you about Aaron Judge or Paul Skenes. You already know plenty about not just Shohei Ohtani, but his dog Decoy, too. You know that Julio Rodríguez is dedicated to philanthropy in his hometown of Loma de Cabrera, and that Puerto

MIYAZAKI, Japan -- When Shohei Ohtani is around, he is the main event. On Friday night in Nagoya, Samurai Japan -- Japan's national team -- had an exhibition game against NPB's Chunichi Dragons. This was before the start of the official World Baseball Classic camps, so Major League players weren't

The World Baseball Classic begins on Wednesday, March 4, at 10 p.m. ET in a game between Australia and Chinese Taipei. It will kick off a fortnight of absolute madness, with the best baseball players on the planet highly motivated by patriotism, pride and plain old competitiveness squaring off in

The battle to crown the world's greatest baseball team begins in just two weeks. Twenty teams from around the world will begin play on March 4 U.S. time -- Australia and Chinese Taipei get the honors starting at 10 p.m. ET -- all hoping to unseat three-time champion Japan and

This is an excerpt from the latest edition of Michael Clair's International Beat Newsletter, bringing global baseball news to your inbox every month. Sign up for future installments HERE and check out the full newsletter HERE.

After the official 30-man World Baseball Classic rosters were announced last week, there was just one question left ahead of the tournament’s opening on March 4: Who would be listed in the Designated Pitcher Pools (DPP)? The way the DPP works is that each federation can place up to six

Three years after one of the most memorable international tournaments in baseball history, the World Baseball Classic is back, with 20 rosters full of Major League stars, Minor League prospects and seemingly endless interesting and fascinating international stories. (Such as when Czechia starter Ondrej Satoria, moonlighting as a pitcher from

A version of this story first ran in February 2022.

The biggest event in global baseball is fast approaching. And with the tournament just one month away, the rosters for the 20 teams competing for the title of the world's greatest have been announced. Read on below for everything else you need to know about the tournament, which is entering

Twenty years ago, the first World Baseball Classic in history began, forever reshaping the global game. Plenty of superstars and future Hall of Famers took the field that year, with Ken Griffey Jr., Ichiro Suzuki, Andruw Jones and Carlos Beltrán (the latter two being elected to the Hall of Fame

Ten years ago, Jazz Chisholm Jr. – then just an 18-year-old playing his first summer in the Minor Leagues – pulled on a Great Britain jersey for the World Baseball Classic Qualifiers held in Brooklyn. Despite his youth, Chisholm more than held his own, going 4-for-16 with a double and

With 113 wins across 14 big league seasons, Jose Quintana sits atop the list of Major League wins for a Colombian-born pitcher. Now, the veteran left-hander, who is currently a free agent, is back to represent the national team as its captain in March's World Baseball Classic. The Federacion Colombiana

This is an excerpt from the latest edition of Michael Clair's International Beat Newsletter, bringing global baseball news to your inbox every month. Sign up for future installments HERE and check out the full newsletter HERE.

Team USA general manager Michael Hill wanted his roster to make a statement, one that affirmed the USA Baseball team as the best in the world. The lineup is filled with stars and the rotation is crammed with aces. Now, with only a handful of spots on the 30-man team

Shohei Ohtani is getting some company. On Friday morning in Japan, the national team announced the next 11 players who are set to join the Dodgers superstar in the World Baseball Classic. Leading the way is veteran starter Tomoyuki Sugano, currently a free agent after spending the 2025 season with

Team USA has put together a strong rotation thus far, but what about the bullpen? On Wednesday, USA Baseball announced the additions of left-hander Gabe Speier of the Mariners and right-hander Griffin Jax of the Rays.