"A roster featuring MLB stars Nolan Arenado, Edwin Diaz and Seth Lugo was enough to give Puerto Rico the nod over an emerging Canada squad in the eyes of our voters -- and the vast majority of our experts predicted that both countries would move on to the quarterfinals."
"Aaron Judge. Cal Raleigh. Bobby Witt Jr. Paul Skenes. With MVPs and MLB superstars up and down the roster, there was no question Team USA would be the team to beat and our experts agreed in making the United States a unanimous choice to advance."
"One expert's faith that an Australia team featuring 2024 No. 1 draft pick Travis Bazzana will be the surprise of this WBC is the only thing that kept Japan and Korea from a clean sweep of our Pool C predictions."
The 2026 World Baseball Classic features 20 teams competing across four pools. ESPN baseball experts provided predictions for tournament outcomes across all divisions. In Pool A, Puerto Rico leads with strong MLB talent including Nolan Arenado and Edwin Diaz, with Canada as the second qualifier. Pool B features a dominant United States team with Aaron Judge, Cal Raleigh, and Paul Skenes, unanimously predicted to advance. Pool C shows Japan and Korea as clear favorites, with one expert predicting Australia's surprise qualification. Venezuela appears positioned to win Pool D. The experts also made predictions regarding championship matchups, MVP awards, top pitchers, and breakout stars throughout the tournament.
Read at ESPN.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]