"As expected, you're a dream team." The U.S. WBC power ranking is 40%, so should we catch it this time... In Korea, there are "0 pitta" out of 20

*This content was translated by AI.

As expected, the United States. As a result of selecting notable players ahead of the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), an overwhelming number of U.S. players were included in the list.

Fox Sports in the U.S. announced the power rankings of starting pitchers and hitters who will play in the 2026 WBC on the 19th (Korea Standard Time).

The most frequently listed country on the list was by far the United States, the "baseball nation." Four pitchers and batters were selected.

Shohei Ohtani (Japan, Los Angeles Dodgers) was the top hitter by far. The media said, "When Otani hits and pitches at the same time as he did last season, he is the best baseball player in the world. In terms of batting alone, he is the first player in major league history to achieve 50 home runs and 50 steals, he said. "Otani boasts elite power and long-range power in the left at-bat, and he also easily connects the ball above the strike zone with a home run."

"Over the past two seasons, he ranked first in the National League slugging percentage, OPS, OPS+ and scoring categories," he said. "Ohtani, who has won four league MVP awards and won two consecutive World Series titles with the Los Angeles Dodgers, shows his overwhelming presence in all at-bats, mound and bases."

Another Japanese player, Yoshinobu Yamamoto (LA Dodgers), was selected as the third pitcher. Yaamoto, who won the Sawamura Award, which is given to the best pitcher in the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), for three consecutive years, had his best performance over the past two seasons in a Dodgers uniform. In particular, in last season's World Series, he led the Dodgers to two consecutive wins by allowing two runs and three wins in 17 ⅔ innings, including a complete game, in three games.

The media evaluated, "Yamamoto plays with batters with strong four-seam fastballs, split-finger fastballs and curveballs." As long as there are no injuries, his experience in the World Series is expected to continue in WBC.

As a defending champion, he had Tuta's representative stars, but in terms of individual aspects, he is different from his competitors. In particular, the U.S. is at an unparalleled level.

American League MVP Aaron Judge (No. 2 in field), Bobby Wit Jr. (No. 3 in Kansas City), Carl Raleigh (Seattle), Kyle Schwarber (Philadelphia), Tarik Skubal (Detroit), Paul Skins (Pitzburg), Logan Webb (San Francisco), Joe Ryan (U.S.), and Jesus Luzardo (Philadelphia) are among the pitchers.

As for Jersey, "Finding weaknesses is like finding a needle in a haystack. Judge, who has won the American League MVP in three of the past four seasons, has terrorized opposing pitchers since his major league debut season in 2017. He boasts a sharp and overwhelming swing, ranking first in the American League's intentional dune category over the past two years. "He has more than 50 home runs in four seasons, achieved more than 10 WAR (winning contribution) in two seasons, and Judge, who also shows excellent performance in right field defense, has ranked first in the American League in on-base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS, OPS+, and intentional dune in the past two seasons. Judge has now fully qualified for the rank of legendary New York Yankees players.

As for Skubal, the No. 1 pitcher, he said, "Skubal is by far the best pitcher. Not only has he swept the American League Cy Young Award over the past two seasons, but he also ranked first in ERA, ERA+ and WAR (contribution to victory over replacement players) in both seasons," he said. "Sukwal, who struck out a personal record of 241 in the regular season in 2025, overwhelmed the Tigers' lineup with a 1.74 ERA, 0.68 WHIP and 36 strikeouts in 20 ⅔ innings in three postseason starts last year. As a left-hander, he boasts a high strikeout rate, rarely sends out runners, and mainly uses changeups and four-seam fastballs to show his power. He explained, "I'm currently the best pitcher in the Major League."

The U.S. lost to Japan in the 2023 final and lost its pride. Although he won the 2017 tournament once, he does not seem to show much strength in recent tournaments compared to Japan (3 times). He is determined to catch Japan with words only this time.

The country with the second most athletes selected after the United States was the Dominican Republic, which included seven players. "Castillo, who has been selected as a three-time All-Star, is showing success by using four-seam fastballs as his main weapon and mixing sinkers, sliders, and changeups," pitcher Luis Castillo (Seattle) said. "The praise for Soto is the same as in the 2018 rookie season and now." He is an elite hitter who makes good use of counts, can hit in all directions, and has plenty of postseason experience. Soto has won the Silver Slugger six times, and his overall WAR (contribution to victory over replacement) is 42.6. He played understated at-bat, boasted a high slugging percentage, averaged 42 home runs for the season from 2024 to 2025, and successfully stole 38 bases, a National League record and a personal record, in 2025.

In addition, three people were named in Venezuela and two in Japan. While the performance of Korean big leaguers is not remarkable, Korea has not been named at all.

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*This content was translated by AI.