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The World Baseball Classic starts tonight. We’ve got everything you need to get caught up, including predictions from our own Derek VanRiper and Stephen Nesbitt. Plus: Dave Roberts talks Tyler Kepner through his Game 7 decisions, and Jurickson Profar has been suspended (again).
I’m Levi Weaver, welcome to The Windup!
Play Ball: WBC begins tonight
Can I just be completely honest with you guys? When it comes to the World Baseball Classic, I’ve spent the last month feeling a little bit like when I was in my late 20s and it was December 15th and I was wondering when (or if??) that childhood “Christmas spirit” was going to show up.
But yesterday, I opened the MLB.tv app and just cruised around the exhibition games for a bit.
- I watched Toronto stave off a late comeback, fulfilling the fantasy of many a Québécois and defeating Canada 10-7.
- I watched Aaron Judge single home Bobby Witt Jr. and Bryce Harper in the first inning of a 15-1 thrashing of the Giants.
- I took in a bit of the Dominican Republic’s offensive outburst against the Tigers — and in Santo Domingo, no less, with the electric home crowd cheering for home runs from Juan Soto, Manny Machado and Junior Caminero, all in the fourth inning.
- I saw Team Venezuela argue vehemently that the Astros’ go-ahead home run was foul, despite the fact that it was a “meaningless” exhibition game.
- I even took note that Team Great Britain — after I so rudely insinuated that it was mayyyyyybe not so great in yesterday’s Windup — scored seven runs off big-league pitchers, defeating the Brewers 7-3.
Oh hey … is that the Vince Guaraldi Trio I hear? By the time I sat down to write, I found myself annoyed that nine of the 15 exhibition games had no TV broadcasts at all for me to go back and watch.
Anyway, I’m here now. I’m in. And so are my colleagues. With the first official game of the tournament coming at 10 p.m. ET (Chinese Taipei vs. Australia in Tokyo) on FS1, we have everything you need to get ready for the excitement, from Grant Brisbee’s everything-to-know overview to some staff predictions.
Andy McCullough and Chad Jennings even have a pool-by-pool look at all 20 teams:
- Pool A: Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Panama, Puerto Rico
- Pool B: Brazil, Great Britain, Italy, Mexico, United States
- Pool C: Australia, Chinese Taipei, Czechia, Japan, Korea
- Pool D: Dominican Republic, Israel, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Venezuela
And of course, there’s more:
While we wait, there are a whole slew of exhibition games today, too (and nine of the 16 are televised in some form or another).
🎙️ On the Pods: DVR and Nesbitt’s 2026 WBC predictions
Remember 2023? Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani were still teammates when they faced each other in the final at-bat of the WBC. Ippei Mizuhara was still Ohtani’s translator — and maybe his best friend. Revisiting roster predictions for that tournament is a real “Remember that guy?” exercise. And it was only three years ago.
It’s a different world now, as DVR and Stephen Nesbitt discuss in a new episode of “Rates & Barrels.” They also have expectations for each WBC pool and overall predictions. Among them:
- Stephen has Puerto Rico, the U.S., Japan and the Dominican Republic making the semifinals.
- DVR is picking Venezuela to win it all.
Listen to or watch the full episode for more.
Championship Choices: Roberts goes in-depth on Game 7
I love it when the people we report on — the players, managers, coaches and front-office executives — take the time to really go in-depth with a reporter. A pitcher walking us through his arsenal, a batter re-living a once-in-a-lifetime postseason run or even a journeyman pitcher remembering the time he beat a legend.
Today, we have a brilliant one.
Tyler Kepner sat down with Dodgers manager Dave Roberts to talk through the list of decisions from Game 7 of last year’s World Series. Among the more insightful moments:
- The decision to stick with Shohei Ohtani on short rest, which led to a three-run home run by Bo Bichette. But, as Roberts points out, he had a limited number of pitches available to him in the form of five or six pitchers in the bullpen.
- Sticking with Miguel Rojas in the ninth inning instead of pinch-hitting Alex Call, who had significantly better numbers against right-handed pitchers that year. That one worked out, as Rojas hit the game-tying home run, then made the defensive play — well, one of them — that saved the series, throwing out Isiah Kiner-Falefa at home plate for the second out in the bottom of the inning.
- I say “one of them” because Roberts also opted to put Andy Pages in center field instead of speedster Justin Dean. On the very next play, Pages — in addition to absolutely trucking Kiké Hernandez — made the other catch that saved the series.
The whole read is interesting, and gives some great insight into the decision-making process of managing the most pressure-filled situation in the sport.
PEDs: Profar suspended for 2026 season
As Team Netherlands prepares to open its WBC pool play on Friday against Venezuela, it’ll have to do so without one of its better players. But that’s not the biggest concern for Jurickson Profar: He’s also ineligible to play for the Braves in 2026 after his second suspension for PEDs.
His first offense — which carried an 80-game suspension — came just under a year ago, four games into a three-year deal worth $42 million. By the end of this season (since players are not paid during PED suspensions) Profar will have forfeited approximately half of that amount.
Meanwhile, Atlanta is already short-handed, with just a few weeks to go before Opening Day.
Starting pitchers Hurston Waldrep and Spencer Schwellenbach (both out with elbow inflammation) aren’t expected back until June or July, joining AJ Smith-Shawver (Tommy John surgery last summer) on the road to recovery. Additionally, reliever Joe Jiménez (knee) is questionable to return at all this season.
On the position-player side, catcher Sean Murphy (hip) is expected back in May, while SS Ha-Seong Kim (finger) is expected to miss the first half of the season.
And now this: Profar won’t play in 2026, since a second positive test for PEDs carries an automatic 162-game suspension. A third would mean a lifetime ban from the sport.
Of note: Profar wasn’t the only player to receive a PED suspension yesterday. Phillies outfield Johan Rojas also received an 80-game suspension. Both players are appealing their suspensions, and as Charlotte Varnes notes in that story, the WBC impacted the announcement of both these suspensions:
“The appeals process is typically shrouded; teams often do not know whether one of their players is appealing a test result. The WBC altered that timeline.”
But with WBC pool play starting today, the players were deemed ineligible for participation, even as their appeals are heard.
Handshakes and High Fives
Jayson Stark tells us what makes Max Scherzer worth the investment in Toronto at age 41 — and why he says his daughter’s letter to the Blue Jays was “a bad negotiating tactic.”
With MLBPA head Tony Clark now gone, Evan Drellich takes a deep dive into the recent history of labor friction in the sport, and how the change in leadership could impact the CBA negotiations.
One by one, Cubs first baseman Michael Busch has answered the questions about him. The latest: Given full playing time, how will he fare against left-handed pitching?
We jumped the gun on this earlier in the week, but Steven Louis Goldstein’s explainer on how to actually watch baseball on TV in this confounding media landscape is finally live.
Could a 1/1 Aaron Judge/Shohei Ohtani card break the record for most expensive baseball card of all time? (The previous record is $12.6 million dollars for a 9.5-graded 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle rookie.)
Most-clicked in our last newsletter: The MLB.com story on the Rangers bringing in the controversial statue.
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