They are well-decorated, yet many are still in their prime. A handful with extremely bright futures, but already a significant number of accomplishments on their dossier. A few more who might merely be hood ornaments on this ride, yet can add gravitas and depth, nonetheless.
It isn’t hard to argue that Team USA is sending its most talented group to the World Baseball Classic in the six iterations of this tournament.
Four players have won MVP awards, with four more claiming runner-up finishes, including two guys, Cal Raleigh and Bobby Witt Jr., who would have won top AL honors the past two seasons were it not for three-time winner Aaron Judge.
Oh yeah, he’s on the team, too.
Sure, you can’t overwhelm opponents merely with star power, nor can you field more than 10 guys at a time. Still, this squad is both well-accomplished but also largely in its prime.
Outside the bullpen, every guy save for youngsters Roman Anthony, Brice Turang and Nolan McLean, along with veteran Ernie Clement – who’s merely coming off a record-setting 30-hit postseason – has been an All-Star.
Here’s a breakdown of the roster and each guy’s role in the effort to win a second WBC crown:
Catchers
Cal Raleigh, C, Mariners
Age: 29
All-Star appearance: 2025
Honors: Platinum Glove
Last year: 7.4 WAR, 60 homers, 125 RBI, .948 OPS.
Likely role: Starting catcher. Big Dumper can take a load off after years of carrying Seattle’s offense at various times in recent years, and his switch-hitting power will give manager Mark DeRosa significant lineup flexibility.
Will Smith, C, Dodgers
Age: 30
All-Star appearances: Three
Last year: 4.5 WAR, 17 homers, .404 OBP, .901 OPS in 110 games
Likely role: Part-time catcher. Smith flirted with a batting title for a while last year and showed he’s the Dodgers’ off-Broadway MVP by catching every postseason inning and striking the go-ahead, 11th-inning home run in World Series Game 7. Yes, the man will not shrink from this global stage.
Infielders
Alex Bregman, 3B, Cubs
Age: 31
All-Star appearances: Three
Honors: Gold Glove
Last year: 3.5 WAR, .821 OPS, 18 homers in 114 games
Likely role: Primary third baseman. This will be Bregman’s first WBC since earning five plate appearances with the 2017 champions; his role should be much larger this time. Suddenly a veteran of three teams, Bregman’s Pied Piper leadership and ball knowledge will be a significant asset this time around.
Ernie Clement, 2B, Blue Jays
Age: 29
Last year: 4.3 WAR, 35 doubles, .711 OPS in 157 games
Likely role: Deluxe utility guy. Clement can play any position on the infield – and roam the outfield in a pinch – and is coming off a record 30-hit postseason that capped a stellar all-around season.
Paul Goldschmidt, 1B, Yankees
Age: 38
All-Star appearances: Seven
Honors: 2022 NL MVP, four-time Gold Glove winner
Last year: 1.2 WAR, 10 homers in 534 plate appearances
Likely role: Right-handed bat off the bench. Goldschmidt’s splits went extreme last year: .336/.411/.570 against left-handers, .247/.289/.329 against righties.
Bryce Harper, 1B, Phillies
Age: 33
All-Star appearances: Eight
Honors: 2015 NL MVP, 2021 NL MVP, 2012 Rookie of the Year
Last year: 3.1 WAR, 27 homers, .844 OPS in 132 games
Likely role: Primary first baseman. Harper’s first high-profile chance to reclaim the “elite” tag his club president questioned this winter. Harper’s 126 adjusted OPS was his lowest since 2019.
Gunnar Henderson, SS/3B, Orioles
Age: 24
All-Star appearance: 2024
Honors: 2023 AL Rookie of the Year
Last year: 5.3 WAR, 17 homers, .787 OPS in 154 games
Likely role: Part-time third baseman. Henderson will likely share time with Bregman at third, the start of a campaign he hopes looks much more like his 37-homer 2024 after playing through a shoulder impingement last season.
Brice Turang, 2B, Brewers
Age: 26
Honors: Platinum Glove
Last year: 5.6 WAR, 18 homers, 97 runs, .794 OPS
Likely role: Primary second baseman. Turang is a fantastic all-around player whose presence will only help in the always-tricky area of team adhesion in a brief sample size.
Bobby Witt Jr., SS, Royals
Age: 25
All-Star appearances: 2024, 2025
Honors: Two-time Gold Glove winner
Last year: 7.1 WAR, 23 homers, 38 stolen bases, .852 OPS
Likely role: Primary shortstop. Witt was a bit player as Trea Turner starred in 2023. Little reason to think he won’t be that guy this time around.
Outfielders
Roman Anthony, LF, Red Sox
Age: 21
Last year: 3.1 WAR, eight homers, .859 OPS in 71 games
Likely role: Part-time left fielder. As you likely know well, Anthony’s sparse resume belies his status as one of the game’s most imposing hitters. Will be a weapon in the top or middle of the lineup or as a bat off the bench.
Byron Buxton, CF, Twins
Age: 32
All-Star appearances: 2022, 2025
Honors: Platinum Glove
Last year: 4.9 WAR, 35 homers, 97 runs, .878 OPS
Likely role: Center field platoon. Buxton’s power and defense – he put up those 35 homers in 126 games a year ago – will be a significant asset, especially against lefty starters.
Pete Crow-Armstrong, CF, Cubs
Age: 23
All-Star appearance: 2025
Honors: Gold Glove
Last year: 6.0 WAR, 31 homers, 35 stolen bases, .768 OPS
Likely role: Center field platoon. Team USA isn’t expecting First Half PCA – when he hit 25 homers with an .847 OPS, compared to six and .634 after the break – but will settle for elite defense and the ability to ambush at the bottom of the order.
Aaron Judge, RF, Yankees
Age: 33
All-Star appearances: Seven
Honors: 2022, 2024-25 AL MVP, 2017 Rookie of the Year
Last year: 9.7 WAR, 53 homers, .331 average, 1.144 OPS
Likely role: Starting right fielder. After leading the majors in all the slash categories and WAR, Judge enters this WBC on a career high. And will have unparalleled lineup protection in this sprint to the finals.
Designated hitter
Kyle Schwarber, DH, Phillies
Age: 32
All-Star appearances: Three
Last year: 4.7 WAR, 56 homers, .928 OPS
Likely role: Starting DH. Schwarber is immediate danger wherever DeRosa pencils him in – perhaps tucked between Witt and Judge? – and seems destined to have at least one meet-the-moment sequence in this tourney.
Starting pitchers
Matthew Boyd, LHP, Cubs
Age: 35
All-Star appearance: 2025
Last year: 2.5 WAR, 14 wins, 1.09 WHIP in 179 2/3 innings
Likely role: Should get a start or two and perhaps be deployed out of the bullpen against a lefty-heavy pocket. Steady, deceptive and occasionally dominant despite a 92 mph fastball.
Clay Holmes, RHP, Mets
Age: 32
All-Star appearances: 2022, 2024
Last year: 1.9 WAR, 3.53 ERA over 165 2/3 innings
Likely role: He’s been an All-Star closer and successfully reverted to a starting role last year, especially in the first half. That makes him particularly valuable in this format, able to log multiple innings in any role behind his sinker- and sweeper-heavy arsenal.
Clayton Kershaw, LHP, retired
Age: 37
Last year: 1.6 WAR, 11 wins, 3.36 ERA over 112 2/3 innings
All-Star appearances: 11
Honors: NL Cy Young winner (2011, 2013, 2014), NL MVP (2014), Gold Glove
Likely role: Sure, it might be largely ceremonial and perhaps his biggest value will be as clubhouse sage and, as they say, showing the younger guys “how to go about your business.” But Kershaw was very good as a starter last season, got one huge out in Game 5 of the World Series and was on the verge of entering Game 7 in the 11th inning when the Dodgers won it. The man will get the ball. Question is, how big of a spot?
Nolan McLean, RHP, Mets
Age: 24
Last year: 1.8 WAR, 5-1, 2.06 ERA over eight major league starts
Likely role: A big wild card – McLean has a dominant fastball, a legitimate six-pitch mix and a nearly unsullied big league resume to this point. How much do you pour into a guy with just eight starts to his name? For now McLean is slated to start the fourth pool play game against a respectable Italy squad – and leave him on turn should Team USA reach the championship.
Joe Ryan, RHP, Twins
Age: 29
All-Star appearance: 2025
Last year: 4.5 WAR, 194 strikeouts in 171 innings.
Likely role: A back injury will keep Ryan out of pool play and might force his removal from the roster.
Paul Skenes, RHP, Pirates
Age: 23
All-Star appearances: 2024, 2025
Honors: 2023 Rookie of the Year, 2024 NL Cy Young Award
Last year: 7.7 WAR, 1.97 ERA, 216 strikeouts in 187 2/3 innings
Likely role: Ace. Simple enough? With AL Cy Young counterpart Tarik Skubal limited to one start, Skenes will start a pool play game – March 9 against Mexico – and likely get the semifinal nod should Team USA get there.
Tarik Skubal, LHP, Tigers
Age: 29
All-Star appearances: 2024, 2025
Honors: 2024, 2025 AL Cy Young Awards
Last year: 6.5 WAR, 241 strikeouts, 2.21 ERA, AL-best 2.45 FIP, major league-best 0.89 WHIP.
Likely role: One and done. Skubal, entering a season after which he’s expected to be the most coveted pitching free agent in history, has said he’ll start just one game and head back to Florida and resume training with the Tigers. He got his pitch count up to 44 – and hit 99 mph on his fastball – in his final exhibition start before the WBC and should top the 50-pitch mark in his March 7 start against against Great Britain.
Michael Wacha, RHP, Royals
Age: 34
All-Star appearance: 2015
Last year: 2.8 WAR, 3.86 ERA over 172 2/3 innings.
Likely role: Innings eater. Team USA has so much dominant swing-and-miss – a facet they’ve missed in many past WBCs – that Wacha can be looked to for coverage, particularly in pool play action.
Logan Webb, RHP, Giants
Age: 29
All-Star appearances: 2024, 2025
Honors: Gold Glove
Last year: 3.8 WAR, MLB-high 207 innings pitched, NL-high 224 strikeouts
Likely role: Frontline starter. While Skubal and Skenes stole the headlines, Webb’s commitment might be the most important on this squad, giving it pitching depth no previous USA group enjoyed. He’ll get the ball in the March 6 opener against Brazil and almost certainly a starting assignment in the knockout rounds.
Relievers
David Bednar, RHP, Yankees
Age: 31
All-Star appearances: 2022, 2023
Last year: 2.2 WAR, 27 saves, 86 strikeouts in 66 2/3 innings
Likely role: Potential closer. Bednar flourished after a trade to the Yankees, seizing the ninth-inning role and saving 10 games. Reliable presence after the high-leverage heat enters earlier.
Garrett Cleavinger, LHP, Rays
Age: 31
Last year: 1.9 WAR, 2.35 ERA, 82 strikeouts in 61 1/3 innings.
Likely role: Lefty-leaning specialist. Cleavinger’s splits were fairly neutral last season – really good against both right- (.183/.264/.338) and left-handed (.187/.274/.347) hitters. He’ll be joined by Gabe Speier and potentially Kershaw as lefties out of the bullpen.
Griffin Jax, RHP, Rays
Age: 31
Last year: 0.5 WAR, 4.23 ERA, 99 strikeouts in 66 innings
Likely role: Lower-leverage strikeout specialist. Jax got all but 11 of his punchouts on his sweeper and changeup last season, presenting a different look between Team USA’s starters and highest-leverage guys.
Brad Keller, RHP, Phillies
Age: 30
Last year: 1.4 WAR, 0.96 WHIP, 75 strikeouts in 69 2/3 innings.
Likely role: Seventh- or eighth-inning guy. Keller was a reliable piece for the Cubs last season, prompting the Phillies to sign him to work ahead of closer Jhoan Duran.
Mason Miller, RHP, Padres
Age: 27
All-Star appearance: 2024
Last year: 2.2 WAR, 15.2 strikeouts per nine innings, 0.91 WHIP
Likely role: Fireman. Miller’s 101 mph fastball and wipeout slider are an almost unparalleled combo in this tournament or on any given major league day. So think of him deploying in the hottest spots possible – say, to handle Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Junior Caminero and Manny Machado in the late innings against the Dominican – regardless of closer designation.
Gabe Speier, LHP, Mariners
Age: 30
Last year: 1.4 WAR, 0.87 WHIP, 82 strikeouts in 62 innings
Likely role: Left-on-left arm of death. Speier was great against all comers but, even moreso than Cleavinger, was merciless on lefties, holding them to a .179/.214/.302 line and 42 strikeouts to just two walks in 112 plate appearances.
Garrett Whitlock, RHP, Red Sox
Age: 29
Last year: 2.4 WAR, 1.08 WHIP, 91 strikeouts in 72 innings
Likely role: Set-up man. Whitlock owned the eighth inning in Boston, and gave up just two home runs, using his power sinker to induce whiffs, ground balls and chase.