Baseball has roots Down Under dating back to the 1850s, when American gold miners played on the gold fields of Ballarat, a city about 70 miles northwest of Melbourne. Nearly two centuries later, 38 Aussies have played Major League Baseball, according to the Australian Baseball Federation.
After reaching the World Baseball Classic quarterfinals for the first time in team history in 2023, Australia is hungry for more. The green and gold will be led by Aussie baseball legend Liam Hendriks, who returns to the WBC after missing the ‘23 tournament due to his battle with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He will be joined this spring by Travis Bazzana, the No. 1 pick in the 2024 Draft and MLB’s No. 17 prospect per MLB Pipeline.
Australia entered 2026 ranked No. 11 by the World Baseball Softball Confederation.
2023 WBC Performance
Australia has competed in all five editions of the WBC, making it out of the first round for the first time in ‘23.
The team finished second in Pool B with a 3-1 record, beating Korea (8-7) and China (12-2) before falling to the eventual tournament champions, Japan (7-1). Australia then topped the Czech Republic, 8-3, to reach its first-ever quarterfinals and clinch a spot in the ‘26 tournament.
The Aussies ultimately fell, 4-3, to Cuba in the quarterfinals to finish seventh in the tournament.
“I think [the ‘23 WBC] really reinforced to them that when they play together as a group, that they're capable on the world stage,” Dave Nilsson, Team Australia’s manager and MLB’s first-ever Australian All-Star, told MLB.com at the Winter Meetings in December.
“We were one run from beating Cuba. ... We were one run away from playing Team USA in a semifinal,” he added. “So I think from that, we realized if we prepare properly, if we do the right work, our base talent is good enough on the world stage.”
2026 WBC schedule
Australia will again begin the WBC with the group stage at the Tokyo Dome, this time as part of Pool C alongside Japan, Korea, the Czech Republic and Chinese Taipei. The top two teams will advance to the knockout stage.
Australia and Chinese Taipei will face off in the tournament’s opening game. Here is the full Aussie schedule, with games listed in Japan Standard Time:
- March 5, 12 PM: Chinese Taipei vs. Australia
- March 6, 12 PM: Australia vs. Czech Republic
- March 8, 7 PM: Australia vs. Japan
- March 9, 7 PM: Korea vs. Australia
Best WBC performance
Three of Australia's five all-time victories in the WBC have been blowouts that triggered the tournament’s 10-run mercy rule.
Australia tallied 22 hits in its 17-run eruption against Mexico, with seven players collecting multiple hits and four driving in three runs. Right fielder Chris Snelling went 3-for-5 with two home runs, three RBIs and a walk. The 11-0 win over China in ‘17 was punctuated by an eighth-inning grand slam by second baseman James Beresford that pushed Australia over the 10-run threshold. And in ‘23, first baseman Rixon Wingrove led the way with four RBIs.
Biggest games in country history
Beyond Australia’s win over the Czech Republic that propelled the team to the WBC quarterfinals in ‘23, the national team’s biggest win came in 2019 at the WBSC Premier12 tournament.
Australia only won one of its five games in the second-stage Super Round, but it was a big one, beating the U.S., 2-1, thanks to a two-run single from outfielder Aaron Whitefield. Starter Tim Atherton hurled 5 1/3 scoreless innings as the Aussies topped a U.S. team that featured future MLB players Jake Cronenworth, Andrew Vaughn, Alec Bohm, Jo Adell, Bobby Dalbec and Drew Waters.
Notable MLB players who may join the team
There are currently two MLB players who have announced their intention to represent Australia in this year’s WBC: free agent reliever Hendriks and White Sox infielder Curtis Mead.
Hendriks, a Perth native, appeared in 14 games for the Red Sox in 2025 after missing all of 2024 and most of 2023 with Tommy John surgery and cancer recovery. The 36-year-old is a three-time All-Star who led all MLB relievers with a 9.5 fWAR during a dominant run from 2019-2022. His 114 saves in that stretch ranked third, while his 2.20 ERA ranked fourth. Hendriks last played in the WBC in 2009 as a 20-year-old.
“Last time I was the first person he called before he went public with his cancer he had,” Nilsson said about Hendriks. “He was so excited for the last WBC, and he messaged me and said, ‘Just want to let you know I'm about to release this.’ ... Liam's excited. He’s trying to prepare right now to play.”
Mead, who hails from Adelaide, has played 152 MLB games over the past three seasons, mostly for the Rays before being traded to the White Sox at the 2025 Trade Deadline. Mead, 25, has split time between first, second and third base. He also played four seasons in the Australian Baseball League, all with his hometown team.
“Curtis is super excited,” Nilsson said. “He wanted to play last time. He actually had tickets booked for his family last time. And the medical staff of the Rays had some concerns, so that kind of held him back. So Curtis couldn't be more excited to be involved in this.”
Minor League prospects who may join the team
Bazzana, the Guardians’ No. 1 prospect, is “knocking down the door” for the opportunity to represent Australia, Nilsson said.
Bazzana, 23, played three seasons in the ABL as a teenager before beginning a stellar collegiate career at Oregon State. The Hornsby native won Cape Cod League MVP in 2023 and Pac-12 Player of the Year in 2024 while setting several program records at Oregon State, including single-season home runs and career runs, hits, doubles, stolen bases and walks.
After being selected first overall in the 2024 Draft by the Guardians, Bazzana signed for a franchise-record $8.95 million. He played 27 games in High-A that year, and made it all the way to Triple-A in 2025 despite battling injury. He could make it to the big leagues this season.
Story to watch
The 2026 WBC represents a passing of the baton for Australia.
Hendriks, who has 490 career MLB appearances, has been the clear face of Australian baseball in the U.S. for the past decade. He’s up there with Nilsson, Grant Balfour and others as the best Aussies to ever play the sport. And at 36, this could be his last WBC.
Bazzana, the first Australian-born player drafted in the first round, represents the future. And the tournament could be an opportunity for the young infielder to introduce himself to the baseball world and start the year on a high note.
Questions ahead of Upcoming Tournament
The big test for Australia will be making it out of pool play, where they will again face Shohei Ohtani’s vaunted Samurai Japan, which Nilsson described as the “best team in the world.” Korea, too, could feature a stacked offense with MLB players like Jung-Hoo Lee and Hyeseong Kim rumored to have shown interest. Ha-Seong Kim had also expressed thoughts of playing, but the Braves' infielder underwent surgery to repair a torn tendon in his right middle finger and is expected to be out 4-5 months.
Whether Australia has enough pitching to beat the Asian powerhouse teams remains to be seen. Australia posted a 4.93 team ERA in the ‘23 tournament, and the club’s potential ace, Jack O‘Loughlin, has posted a 4.33 ERA across parts of seven seasons in the Minors.