For the second consecutive World Baseball Classic, the United States walked off the field one run short, losing 3-2 in the final to a proud baseballing nation. Venezuela claimed its first WBC title, knocking off both Japan and the U.S. along the way and announcing itself as the sport’s newest powerhouse.
And yet, much like 2023, the most lasting takeaway won’t be that the Americans lost, but that this tournament has become appointment viewing. For two weeks every three years, the sport sheds its leisurely pace and turns into a high-stakes and emotionally charged spectacle rivaled only by October in intensity—at least in Major League Baseball. The World Baseball Classic gives international baseball a spot on the sports map next to the Olympics and the World Cup and reveals a version of the sport that feels louder and more urgent than the one we watch most of the year.
Mexico manager Benji Gil said in 2023 that “Japan moved on, but the world of baseball won today,” after his team’s crushing semifinal loss on a walk-off. Three years later, that sentiment feels even more true. Baseball is the unquestioned winner once again. But, of course, there are some other specific figures who can hold their heads up high.
Here are the winners and losers of the 2026 World Baseball Classic.
Winner: Venezuela, Obviously (and Its Bullpen Especially)
In a continent dominated by soccer, Venezuela has long stood alone as South America’s true baseball nation. Now, for the first time, it can call itself the best in the world.
The primary difference was on the mound. Three years after its bullpen collapsed in the quaterfinal—when Trea Turner’s grand slam ended the team’s run—Venezuela flipped the script entirely. This time, its relievers were nearly untouchable at the business end of the tournament.
They delivered 6 1/3 scoreless innings against defending champion Japan, then followed it up with 7 2/3 shutout frames in the semifinal against Italy. In a tournament thought to be defined by star power, like Venezuela’s own Ronald Acuna Jr., Venezuela won with a bullpen that never blinked.
Bryce Harper’s game-tying homer in the eighth briefly threatened to undo it all. But outside of that one swing, Venezuela’s relievers controlled the biggest moments of the tournament. Now, the nation will compete in baseball in the upcoming Summer Olympics for the first time in its history.
Loser: Mark DeRosa’s Knowledge of the WBC Format
He managed the semifinal win against the Dominican Republic brilliantly, but the lasting image for DeRosa from this event won’t be a favorable one. I won’t knock him for not going to Mason Miller in the ninth inning of the final—due to his Padres obligations, he wasn’t available to pitch in a tie game, and still, there was almost no time to get him loose after Harper homered with two outs. But DeRosa’s managing at the end of pool play nearly cost the U.S. a spot in the knockout rounds entirely. In a tournament in which he should have known run differential would matter, he warmed up Clayton Kershaw, who literally retired a few days later. While he eventually pivoted to bring in his best reliever and keep the score at 8-6, a clip surfaced later that DeRosa was under the impression that the Americans had already clinched. (DeRosa says that he simply “mispoke,” which … sure.) If not for Italy, who upset the Americans in that game, going on to defeat Mexico, the U.S. would have been eliminated.
DeRosa’s broadcasting colleague, Matt Vasgersian, has since come to his defense, suggesting it was a miscommunication during the now-infamous MLB Network interview. It was so bad that the network briefly took down the footage, although it claims it was only to avoid spreading misinformation about the qualifying rules.
Francisco Cervelli of Italy celebrates after defeating Puerto Rico
Winner: The Italians (More Specifically Italian Americans)
Italy entered the tournament with 80-1 odds and wasn’t expected to survive a group featuring the United States and Mexico. Instead, it won Pool B, beating both North American powers, and captured its first WBC knockout win (against Puerto Rico) before coming within a few innings of reaching the final.
When the Italians weren’t pulling espresso shots from a machine in the dugout, they were mashing. Italy hung eight runs on American pitching—no other team scored more than five against them all tournament—and leaned into a lineup built on energy and power. Vinnie Pasquantino became the first player in WBC history to homer three times in a game, while Phillies prospect Dante Nori led the team with six RBIs.
But what made this run feel real was the pitching. A rotation anchored by Aaron Nola, Michael Lorenzen, and Sam Aldegheri gave Italy legitimacy. Nola, after the worst year of his career in 2025 for the Phillies, was dominant, throwing a tournament-high nine innings and allowing just one run.
Now let’s see if the men’s soccer team can build on the baseball success and reach the World Cup for the first time since 2014. (They play in a European playoff at the end of March for one of the final spots.)
Loser: The Captain’s Performance in the Highest-Leverage Moments
In seven games, Aaron Judge finished the 2026 WBC with a very respectable .845 OPS. He slugged two homers and drove in five runs. Unfortunately for Judge, he did little to dispel the narrative that he declines in performance when things truly matter. Most of Judge’s damage came in the first three pool games against Brazil, Great Britain, and Mexico. And the first two, respectfully, barely qualify as baseball nations.
Judge was certainly unlucky to have Julio Rodriguez rob his home run in the semifinal, but he was also at the heart of a lineup that badly underperformed in the final stages of the tournament, with the U.S. scoring just four runs in the last two games. Judge went 0-for-4 in the final loss, with three strikeouts. He finished the playoff round 1-for-12 at the plate.
Judge is one of the best right-handed hitters to ever step up to the plate, but his career is missing a championship or even a significant team achievement that he heavily contributed to.
Winner: Our Beloved Czech Electrician
I didn’t think we’d hear from Ondřej Satoria again after he struck out Shohei Ohtani during pool play of the 2023 WBC. The Czechs returned to the Classic this spring, and their soft-tossing, semi-pro pitcher pulled off an even more impressive feat in his baseball swan song. Satoria tossed 4 2/3 shutout innings against Japan in the final matchup of pool play. He exited the mound to roaring applause from both the Czech faithful and the appreciative Japanese fans who understand that game recognize game.
He’s retired now from baseball for good, and it’s nice that he’ll forever have video evidence of the moment he struck out—I think it’s fair to say this at this point—the best player ever. It’s so improbable that Satoria’s future grandkids probably wouldn’t have believed him otherwise.
Winner: Automated Ball-Strike Systems
It was wrong for a game as high-quality as the United States and Dominican Republic’s semifinal matchup to be decided on a botched strike call. After Geraldo Perdomo worked the count full with the tying run on third and two outs, down 2-1 in the ninth, he took a breaking ball from American closer Miller. The pitch missed well below the zone, but as Perdomo started to begin his move toward first base, plate umpire Cory Blaser rang him up. Instead of an epic matchup between Padres teammates Miller and Fernando Tatis Jr. with the winning run on base, the game was over.
The lack of ABS especially hurts because the implementation of the system has been one of the biggest—and most controversial—story lines of MLB spring training. We know that the technology exists and is ready to be used in MLB games. Why couldn’t it be present in the sport’s premier international tournament? For anyone doubting the system’s worth, ABS just got a huge boost against the haters.
“You can pretty much guarantee they’re going to have the ABS challenge in place at the next WBC," Derek Jeter said on the Fox postgame.
Junior Caminero of Team Dominican Republic takes the field
Winner: The Dominican Republic’s Offense Living Up to the Hype
The Dominican Republic fell short of its ultimate goal after a semifinal loss to Team USA, but for five games, its offense was the supernova everyone expected it to be.
Not only did they break the WBC record for home runs hit in a single tournament, but 22-year-old Rays third baseman Junior Caminero introduced himself on the international stage with three homers (tied for the tournament lead). The DR scored 10 or more runs in four of its six games and had three mercy rule victories, including a walk-off three-run shot from Austin Wells in the quarterfinal against South Korea.
This is what the lineup was supposed to look like. After a shocking pool-play exit in 2023, this roster loaded with six 2025 All-Stars—plus an MVP-caliber bat in Juan Soto—finally played like the sport’s most terrifying collection of hitters. The Dominicans got plenty of use out of their home run jacket, and had as much fun as any team I can ever remember in the tournament.
Loser: Mexico’s Ability to Replicate the Magic of Its Last Tournament
Mexico was one of the defining stories of the 2023 World Baseball Classic, riding a charismatic, high-powered lineup to a semifinal berth. For two weeks, they were the team everyone gravitated toward, with one of the loudest dugouts and electric offensive moments.
This time, it didn’t feel quite the same.
Italy followed almost the exact blueprint—winning the group, beating the United States, and emerging as the tournament’s surprise contender—while Mexico faded into elimination quietly. The offense scored just four combined runs in losses to the U.S. and Italy.
Randy Arozarena was the emotional engine of that 2023 team. He didn’t make much noise at the plate this year—except when his Seattle teammate Cal Raleigh refused to shake his hand during the U.S.-Mexico game.
Without that spark or energy that Arozarena provided, Mexico learned that the second act is often harder to live up to the hype of the first.
Members of Team USA stand during the national anthem
Loser: Team USA’s Lack of Aura
There’s a scene in Remember the Titans where Julius Campbell tells Gerry Bertier that “attitude reflects leadership.” For most of this World Baseball Classic, Team USA’s attitude stood in stark contrast to the rest of the competition.
While other teams danced in the dugout, waved flags, and turned every big moment into a celebration, the Americans often looked buttoned up. They looked like a group of All-Stars assembled for a midseason series, and the difference was striking.
Some of that may come with the United States entering the tournament as favorites. But it also felt like a reflection of the roster itself. Bryce Harper, Aaron Judge, Kyle Schwarber, and Paul Skenes are all elite players, but none are particularly expressive or outwardly emotional leaders. As former MLB outfielder Cameron Maybin pointed out, this team lacked an Adam Jones-type player. Jones set the standard for bringing energy to the U.S. squad in 2017.
The U.S. often felt like it was playing a different sport with little to no urgency, and that contributed to the peculiar vibes watching most of their games.
Winner: Baseball as Part of Our Global Zeitgeist
The World Baseball Classic dropped in at a busy time in the sporting calendar, with the Olympics just ending, March Madness about to tip off, and NFL free agency in full swing.
Getting people to tune in for a pretty newly popularized and refurbished tournament in early March is not necessarily easy. But following the heels of an epic World Series that went seven games and had everything anyone could ever want in a sports drama, baseball has felt like it’s in a bit of a cultural ascendency.
Yes, there’s a behemoth dynasty that may or may not be ruining the sport. There’s a pending lockout after this season that could stall all of the momentum and goodwill baseball is building right now. But the WBC showed for two weeks that America still loves its pastime—and that much of the world has come to appreciate it. That baseball isn’t only a sport for older generations, as its critics have frequently said. Shohei Ohtani’s home run against Venezuela went instantly viral on social media. Crowds in Puerto Rico produced incredible noise and atmosphere. Miami’s loanDepot Park was as full as it will be in years (sorry, Marlins fans). The Sunday night semifinal between the U.S. and the Dominican Republic averaged more viewers than any FS1 programming since 2019. Its audience of 7.37 million fans trumped that of the NCAA tournament selection show hours earlier.
For two weeks in March, baseball felt like the center of the sports world again, and it signals a real shift.
