The World Baseball Classic has just begun with the Asian portion of its bracket, while Team USA and the rest of the teams are getting ready to start the real matches. Of course, it’s an uneven battle. Teams like Great Britain, Czechia, or Israel have no real chances to win. That’s life.
What’s making people talk in the US is how stacked Team USA actually is. Some are already comparing it to basketball’s 1992 Dream Team. Unlike the 1992 basketball team, the 2026 WBC team will not win the championship, and here’s why.
Team USA Won’t Win The WBC
Winning a short tournament like the WBC doesn’t only require talent, but also a bit of luck, a strong will to win, a good team spirit, and sacrifice. Team Canada, for example, possesses those last three elements, but lacks the talent. The American team, however, clearly has the talent but lacks the sacrifice and team spirit needed.
The organization chose players without worrying about their real desire to play in the tournament. There is, among others, Tarik Skubal, who has already decided that he will only throw once, and that it will be for two or three innings, not one more. After all, he wants to sign a huge contract next winter.
There are also some huge egos on this team. Is it realistic to expect players who are known to only think about themselves to collaborate effectively? Who will be willing to give up their place or sacrifice themselves for the team? Of course, Team USA took someone like Ernie Clement. The Blue Jays player might miss the Toronto atmosphere within this USA team.
On the other end of the brackets, there are teams like Japan and the Dominican Republic who operates in a drastically different way. The Dominican team relies on a strong team spirit and the pleasure of playing together. Their lineup is just as impressive as Team USA’s, with slightly less talent on the starting pitching.
Japan is presenting a team where, for the most part, the players have been practicing together since the beginning of winter. A team that regularly participates in international tournaments. Not to mention that Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Seiya Suzuki are also featured? There is also a group of athletes, mostly unknown in America, who are solid baseball players. Oh, yeah… They know what the spirit of sacrifice and the desire to win together truly mean. It’s no coincidence that Japan has won this international championship three times.
So, don’t be surprised when the United States gets eliminated, and Japan or the Dominican Republic ends up on top.
