In the pages of the New York Times in the spring of 2005, a just-announced tournament to be known as the “World Baseball Classic” was being touted for one particular potential pairing. “Baseball’s first world cup will probably be decided,” David Leonhardt wrote, “by a matchup between one of the

DUNEDIN, Fla. -- The best things happening to the Blue Jays aren’t happening in Dunedin. The World Baseball Classic is bringing out the biggest, brightest, loudest version of Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and it’s only the middle of March. One of baseball’s greatest showmen is starting early.

It’s the electric, bat-flipping brilliance of the Dominican Republic’s loaded lineup versus the electric, bat-defying brilliance of Paul Skenes’ right arm. It’s the intensity of Team USA, relishing in the bonding experience but also fully aware of the gold-or-bust stakes, versus the showmanship and looseness of a Dominican Republic club

MIAMI -- Vlad Jr. went airborne. Juan Soto went swimming. Austin Wells went deep off the facing of the second deck. And the Dominican Republic went on to the semifinals of the World Baseball Classic. The D.R. rolled past Korea, 10-0, in a seven-inning, run-rule shortened game in the opening

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Cristopher Sánchez heard the names Albert Pujols, Pedro Martínez and Nelson Cruz and glanced at his left arm. He shook his head. “Goosebumps,” he said via an interpreter.

Twenty teams began in the 2026 World Baseball Classic. Only eight clubs remain. The ‘26 WBC quarterfinals will take place in Miami and Houston on Friday and Saturday and there will be some compelling matchups. On Friday night, the Dominican Republic will face Korea (6:30 p.m. ET, FS2), while Team

MIAMI -- This Dominican Republic lineup is all-time. And so are its home run celebrations. Juan Soto, Ketel Marte, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Fernando Tatis Jr. all crushed monster home runs in the heavyweight bout between the D.R. and Venezuela on Wednesday night at the World Baseball Classic, which the

MIAMI -- It's a miracle the roof stayed on loanDepot park. The juggernaut Dominican Republic lineup put on an epic fireworks display to beat Venezuela and take first place in Pool D at the World Baseball Classic. The D.R. mashed four home runs -- one each by Juan Soto, Ketel

What a day of baseball. The final day of pool play in the 2026 World Baseball Classic began with plenty of intrigue and did not disappoint, with excitement abound. At the end of the day, we have Canada advancing past pool play for the first time in the WBC, and

MIAMI -- The Dominican Republic and Venezuela both brought out a legendary pitcher from their country to kick off their matchup at the World Baseball Classic on Wednesday. First, Juan Marichal -- MLB's first Dominican-born Hall of Famer -- threw out the ceremonial first pitch at loanDepot park.

MIAMI -- Fernando Tatis Jr. spent the first two games of the World Baseball Classic setting the table for his teammates. Monday, he decided to eat. Tatis hit the first grand slam by a Dominican Republic player in Classic history, setting a team record with six RBIs to lead the

The Dominican Republic team has been a slugging juggernaut so far this World Baseball Classic, with a tournament-high nine home runs. Juan Soto has one of those, a run rule game-ender, and during Monday's breezy 10-1 victory over Israel he made a bid for two more. Both of them came

Fernando Tatis Jr. isn't playing for Slam Diego right now, but he brought a little of it with him to Team Dominican Republic's 10-1 win over Israel on Monday afternoon. The Padres superstar launched a no-doubt grand slam in the second inning, the first in Dominican Republic's World Baseball Classic

MIAMI -- When Luis Severino talked to his wife following the Dominican Republic’s one-sided win over the Netherlands, his performance wasn’t the topic of conversation. She wanted to talk about Austin Wells’ home run. “She was more excited than me that he hit a homer,” Severino said.

MIAMI -- A small band marched through the concourse at loanDepot park shortly before Sunday’s game, working the Dominican Republic fans into a lather before the first pitch was even thrown. The party didn’t stop for more than two hours, as the D.R. lineup kept the drummers busy all afternoon,

The first full day with all four World Baseball Classic pools in action provided plenty of excitement and fodder. Here’s a look at nine stats and facts from some wild games. • Let’s start where we so often do when discussing the extraordinary: with Shohei Ohtani. He hit a grand

MIAMI – As they prepared for their first game in this year’s World Baseball Classic, Juan Soto promised that the Dominican Republic team was going to have fun. “And we’re going to be loud,” Fernando Tatis Jr. added. Tatis wasn’t necessarily talking about the sound of Junior Caminero’s bat, but

MIAMI -- Four batters into Cristopher Sánchez’s World Baseball Classic debut, it looked like he might not make it out of the first inning. By the time he walked off the mound, the left-hander had made Classic history. Sánchez became the first pitcher in the 20-year history of the tournament

MIAMI – Erik González has replaced Jeremy Peña on the Dominican Republic’s roster for the World Baseball Classic, the team announced on Friday, adding a versatile infielder to manager Albert Pujols’ star-studded roster. González will join the Dominican team at loanDepot park prior to Friday night’s WBC opener against Nicaragua

MIAMI -- The Dominican Republic has had some loaded lineups throughout the 20-year history of the World Baseball Classic.

JUPITER, Fla. – Remember this viral Lady Gaga meme? “No sleep. Bus. Club. ‘nother club. ‘nother club. Plane. Next place. No sleep.”

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- The World Baseball Classic hasn’t even officially started yet, and Junior Caminero is already making a powerful impression on the international stage. Caminero went 4-for-4 in the Dominican Republic team’s 12-4 win over the Tigers on Tuesday night at Estadio Quisqueya Juan Marichal in Santo Domingo,

Get ready to dive into World Baseball Classic pool play. The 2026 tournament, which gets underway this week, features four pools: A, B, C and D. Each of those pools consists of five teams battling it out in a round-robin format. The top two teams from each pool then advance

SANTO DOMINGO – The atmosphere at Quisqueya Juan Marichal Stadium on Tuesday night was not typical of Dominican Winter League games, even though many names in the home team's lineup had played on this field in the past. The sparkle of the country's beloved team dazzled the more than 10,000

This story was excerpted from AJ Cassavell’s Padres Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.