Baseball NSW congratulates our players who made it to the 30-man Team Australia roster for the 2026 World Baseball Classic!
The team assembled a balanced squad that’s laden with experience as well as young talent ready to perform at the sport’s biggest international stage.
The World Baseball Classic welcomes teams from various countries to play world-class competition in the world’s premier baseball tournament.
This year’s WBC will see Australia begin pool play in Tokyo where they will face fellow Pool C teams Chinese Taipei, Czechia, Japan, and Korea.
Tune into the World Baseball Classic on these dates!
All times AEDT (Sydney)
– March 5, 2:00PM: Australia vs Chinese Taipei
– March 6, 2:00PM: Australia vs Czechia
– March 8, 9:00PM: Australia vs Japan
– March 9, 9:00PM: Australia vs Korea
All games broadcast in Australia on ESPN / Disney+.
The top two teams out of pool play will advance to the quarterfinals in Miami.
During their last time out, Team Australia reached the quarterfinals of the WBC for the first time, and they will look to build on their success this year.
The team welcomed back 17 players from their 2023 World Baseball Classic squad, comprising nine position players and eight pitchers, each with valuable tournament experience.
However, the team also features significant young talent.
For instnace, thirteen players are aged 26 or under, while 12 will make their World Baseball Classic debut.
Meanwhile, ten players will play their first senior Team Australia tournament.
Five players will also bring their experience in Major League Baseball to the squad: Curtis Mead, Warwick Saupold, Jack O’Loughlin and Aaron Whitefield.
Moreover, the former first pick of the 2024 MLB Draft, Travis Bazzana, also joins the squad.
All players in Team Australia have strong connections to ABL clubs, while seven are currently affiliated with an MLB or KBO organisation.
Currently, four players have KBO experience: Lachlan Wells, Coen Wynne, Warwick Saupold, and Jarryd Dale.
Manager of Team Australia David Nilsson spoke with Baseball Australia about the team-first makeup of the team.
“I think the strength of the team is it is built around the sum of parts,” Nilsson said. “It’s about having a sum of parts that can execute towards a collective goal and by playing as a team.”
He also added, “For any team to have success in an international baseball tournament, you need to be fundamentally sound pitching and defensively. That will be one of our strong focus. We have great players who we know can succeed.”
The same collaborative spirit also informed the roster evaluation and selection process, per Nilsson.
“Every month the selection committee would meet,” he said. “As it got closer, the meetings became more frequent. The ABL season absolutely influenced decisions. But we have eyes everywhere. There are people everywhere that contribute to these decisions.”
Ahead of the WBC, 23 of the Team Australia players will fly to Fuchu City to join a two-week training camp.
The remaining seven will attend their respective pro club’s Spring Training.
This training camp should help keep the players sharp and refine their preparation, ensuring that they will be ready for the intensity of international competition.
“Fuchu is about preparation,” Nilsson told Baseball Australia. “We need to be as prepared as we can for elite level baseball. The camp is about hard work, and everyone really understanding where they fall in the team, connecting and narrowing down on their roles. There is a large emphasis on process to get better and on game speed.”
Baseball NSW wishes our players all the best as they compete against world-class players at the WBC! May you persevere and show how far Australian baseball has come!