Team Japan will look to win its fourth World Baseball Classic championship in 2026. Japan won the last one in 2023, thanks to a deep roster across the board. And heading into 2026, Samurai Japan should be one of the heavy favorites to take the title.

Pitchers

It seemed like, apart from winning the NL Cy Young Award, that Yoshinobu Yamamoto did nearly everything in 2025. Yamamoto was one of the NL’s best pitchers last season, and then followed that up with a stellar postseason, three World Series wins, and the Fall Classic MVP award.

Now, can he add a second World Baseball Classic to his lengthy resume?

Yamamoto will be one of several current Major Leaguers on Team Japan, a list that could have been longer. Shota Imanaga and Roki Sasaki won’t be on the roster, nor will Yu Darvish. However, Japan will have reliever Yuki Matsui back for 2026, plus Tomoyuki Sugano and Yusei Kikuchi.

Kikuchi and Sugano were not on the 2023 team.

As far as the NPB pitchers are concerned, Japan will have two of the best strikeout pitchers from the circuit last year: left-hander Hiroya Miyagi (165 K over 150 IP) and Hiromi Itoh (195 over 196 IP).

Itoh doesn’t throw too hard, nor strike out a lot of batters. However, like many pitchers in Japan, the right-hander has a deep arsenal, including a low-90s four-seamer, slider, splitter, sinker, curveball, changeup, and cutter.

Miyagi, meanwhile, may be the more interesting of the two. Miyagi is 5’7”, averages roughly 91 MPH on his fastball, but generates a lot of swing-and-miss off his secondary stuff.

Catchers

Yuhei Nakamura is back for Japan after he played for the team in 2023. Nakamura slashed .230/.319/.278 over 74 games for Yakult last season.

Seishiro Sakamoto had 22 extra-base hits for the Hanshin Tigers in 2025. Kenya Wakatsuki had 24 for the Orix Buffaloes.

Infielders

There’s a lot of power amongst the Japanese infield core.

Obviously, the two marquee names to watch are Munetaka Murakami and Kazuma Okamoto. Murakami was one of the most feared power hitters in the NPB during his time there but also had swing-and-miss concerns, particularly against fastballs. He’s now over in North America, as Murakami signed a two-year deal with the White Sox.

Okamoto, meanwhile, joined the 2025 AL champion Blue Jays after a strong career in Japan. Power and consistent contact are two tenets of his game.

Kaito Kozono is a swing-happy infielder who had a very good year for Hiroshima. Kozono slashed .309/.365/.388 for Hiroshima last season.

Shugo Maki only played 93 games last season. However, Maki, like Murakami and Okamoto, is one of those power hitters to watch. The 27-year-old cracked 52 combined home runs between 2023 and 2024 for Yokohama.

Teruaki Sato, meanwhile, hit 40 home runs for Hanshin.

Outfielders

North American fans will get a good look at Kensuke Kondoh, one of the best non-MLB players, in the event. The 32-year-old was part of Japan’s 2023 WBC team, and actually had his best career season after that event. Kondoh blasted 26 home runs and posted an OPS north of .900.

Kondoh is a very difficult out, as he makes consistent contact and doesn’t chase a lot. And that was very much the case at the 2023 event, as he notched nine hits in the tournament, second on Team Japan.

Shota Morishita hit 24 home runs for Hanshin as a 24-year-old last season.

Ukyo Shuto, who received five at-bats in the last WBC, is a speedster who stole 41 bases last season for Softbank.

Then, there’s the Major Leaguers. Seiya Suzuki had a career season for himself in the Majors, thanks in part to the support around him in the Cubs’ lineup. Masataka Yoshida will suit up for the country yet again, as he did in 2023. Yoshida batted .409 and drove in a team-high 13 runs in the last event.

Designated Hitter

The Dodgers confirmed that Ohtani won’t pitch in the WBC, taking any chance of him coming in as a closer again off the table. Still, if there’s one singular player who will make Team Japan tick, it’s Ohtani.

H/T to NPB Pitch/Batter Profiler for advanced numbers.

Check out more of our MLB coverage, including a look at Team Puerto Rico.

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