All but one spot on the 30-man roster for Team Japan has been released ahead of the 2026 World Baseball Classic. The defending champions are loaded again. Dodgers teammates Shohei Ohtani (a four-time MVP in Major League Baseball) and Yoshinobu Yamamoto (the 2025 World Series MVP) headline the roster. Ohtani confirmed his participation in November, but Yamamoto was not added to the roster until this week.
“I’ve trained during the offseason to get myself in condition to compete at the WBC,” Yamamoto said in a statement released by Japan (The Japan Times). “Together with my fantastic teammates and our reliable staff, we will aim to be No. 1.”
In the regular season Yamamoto was 12-8 with a 2.49 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and 201 strikeouts in 173 ⅔ before a stellar postseason that saw him pitch to a 1.45 ERA in 37 ⅓ innings, a run that included two complete games.
“He is Japan’s top pitcher, there is no doubt about that,” manager Hirokazu Ibata said (The Japan Times). “As Japan’s ace, I can rely on him to give us a chance to win wherever he pitches.”
Expect Ohtani to be the designated hitter, though his pitching role has yet to be determined, per Ibata. As a reminder, Ohtani got the save in the finals last WBC, striking out then-teammate Mike Trout to preserve Japan’s 3-2 win over USA.
Yamamoto and Ohtani aren’t the only names on the roster that will be familiar to MLB fans. They are joined by Seiya Suzuki (Cubs), Yusei Kikuchi (Angels), Munetaka Murakami (White Sox), Kazuma Okamoto (Blue Jays), Yuki Matsui (Padres) and Tomoyuki Sugano (Orioles last year, now a free agent).
Pool play for the 2026 World Baseball Classic begins on March 5. The knockout stage starts March 13 in Houston and Miami with the semifinals in Miami on March 15-16 and the finals March 17 in Miami’s LoanDepot Park.
The United States has a star-studded roster of its own and is the favorite to win the 2026 WBC title. Team USA (+105) has better odds than Japan (+320) and the Dominican Republic (+380), per FanDuel.