The World Baseball Classic rosters released last Thursday are made up of some of the best players in the world. The event is going to serve another stellar matchup of top players representing their countries. Team Japan won the previous edition in 2023, but two other teams stand out, on paper, and are likely to challenge their domination. They are Team Dominican Republic and Team USA.
The marquee feature of both teams will be their elite lineups that take the field during the tournament. MLB insider Ben Verlander, pitcher Justin Verlander’s brother, predicted both lineups on his X account on Saturday.
Team USA:
- SS Bobby Witt Jr.
- LF Corbin Carroll
- RF Aaron Judge
- 1B Harper
- C Cal Raleigh
- DH Kyle Schwarber
- 3B Alex Bregman
- CF Pete Crow-Armstrong
- SS Brice Turang
Team Dominican Republic:
- RF Fernando Tatis Jr.
- LF Juan Soto
- 1B Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
- 3B Manny Machado
- CF Julio Rodriguez
- 2B Ketel Marte
- SS Jeremy Pena
- DH Junior Caminero
- C Austin Wells
Verlander, then, went on to give his verdict, picking his favorite lineup.
“These lineups are insane—absolutely insane. My pick, if I had to decide in the here and now, the best offensive lineup in the World Baseball Classic: I don’t know how you don’t give it to the Dominican Republic,” he said. “One through nine, absolutely remarkable. The depth in the lineup is insane. Team DR is nasty.”
Team Dominican Republic is looking to erase the memories of their disappointing 2023 tournament. With a promising roster, they were knocked out in the preliminary stages after losing to Team Venezuela and Team Puerto Rico.
Aaron Judge makes feelings known about joining Team USA’s World Baseball Classic Roster
Team USA captain, Aaron Judge, appeared on the MLB Network for an exclusive interview with Lauren Shehadi during a group interview also featuring his Team USA teammates Tarik Skubal and Paul Skenes on Monday.
“I talked to a lot of guys that played a couple of years ago, and they said [there’s] nothing like it,” Judge said. “They talk about playoff baseball or intense rivalry games — they say this is on a whole other level.”
“It was killing me the whole time watching. I was watching every at-bat, every moment, every game. You kind of picture yourself in those moments. I’m looking forward to those at-bats, those games, those moments, and we’ll see what happens.”
The New York Yankees slugger wasn’t available for the 2023 tournament, having signed a record contract extension with the club a few months before the event. Their 2026 campaign kicks off on March 6 against Team Brazil with games against Team Great Britain, Team Mexico and Team Italy to follow.