Four U.S.-born players of Korean descent join squad for World Baseball Classic

Riley O’Brien of the St. Louis Cardinals pitches against the San Francisco Giants during the clubs’ MLB regular-season game at Busch Stadium in St. Louis in this Getty Images file photo from Oct. 8, 2025. [AFP/YONHAP]

 
St. Louis Cardinals reliever Riley O’Brien and Detroit Tigers outfielder Jahmai Jones were among four U.S.-born players of Korean descent named to the Korean national team for the World Baseball Classic (WBC) on Friday.
 
The KBO unveiled the 30-man roster for the tournament, which will take place from March 5 to 17. O’Brien and Jones are joined by Seattle Mariners pitcher Dane Dunning and Houston Astros utility player Shay Whitcomb.
 
 
All four players were born to American fathers and Korean mothers. Per WBC’s eligibility rules, players can represent the country of birth of one of their parents, even if they themselves weren’t born in that country. 
 
For the 2023 WBC, Korea had Gold Glove-winning infielder Tommy Edman, who was born in the United States to a Korean mother, but he was not available this time due to an offseason ankle surgery.
 
Manager Ryu Ji-hyun said the addition of these four will balance Korea’s roster.
 
“They all said they were honored to represent the country of their mothers’ birth, and they all expressed a strong desire to play for this team,” Ryu said at a press conference announcing the roster on Friday.
 
Dunning has the longest major league résumé in this group, with 136 games — including 102 starts —and a 28-32 record, along with a 4.44 ERA in 593 1/3 innings. He was a 12-game winner for the Texas Rangers in their World Series championship season in 2023. He tossed 2 1/3 scoreless innings in the Rangers’ five-game win over the Arizona Diamondbacks in the World Series.
 

Ryu Ji-hyun, the manager of the Korean national baseball team, speaks at a press conference in Seoul announcing his roster for the 2026 World Baseball Classic on Feb. 6. [YONHAP]

 
Jones batted .287 with an on-base plus slugging of .937 in 72 games last year. Whitcomb batted only .125 in 20 games for the Astros in 2025, but he has hammered Triple-A pitching in each of the past two years, combining for 50 home runs and 155 RBIs in 215 games.
 
O’Brien pitched to a career-best 2.06 ERA and six saves last year in 42 games for the Cardinals.
 
For this year’s squad, there are two other Korean big leaguers in San Francisco Giants outfielder Lee Jung-hoo and Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Kim Hye-seong, plus reliever Go Woo-suk, who recently signed a minor league deal with the Tigers and has yet to play in the big leagues.
 
Manager Ryu filled the rest of his spots with KBO stars, including two former league MVPs in Hanwha Eagles pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin and Kia Tigers third baseman Kim Do-yeong.
 
Korea will have 15 pitchers — with four left-handers — and 15 position players.
 

Detroit Tigers’ Jahmai Jones runs after hitting an RBI double during the fifth inning in Game 4 of baseball’s American League Division Series against the Seattle Mariners in Detroit on Oct. 8, 2025. [AP/YONHAP]

 
The 2025 Korean Series champions LG Twins have the biggest KBO representation with six players, and the Eagles, the runner-up, are next with five players.
 
Korea will face Japan, Chinese Taipei, Australia and the Czech Republic in Pool C, with all of these countries’ games at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo. The top two teams from each of the four pools will advance to the quarterfinals, set to be played in the United States.
 
Korea was eliminated in the preliminary round at each of the past three editions — 2013, 2017 and 2023 — after going to the semifinals at the inaugural WBC in 2006 and losing to Japan in the championship final in 2009.

Yonhap