Even though Major League Baseball is the A-tier of professional baseball worldwide, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t notable pro talent outside of North America. The 2026 World Baseball Classic will showcase pitchers excelling outside of North America, including now-KBO pitchers, former Major Leaguers like Hyun-Jin Ryu and Ariel Jurado. And then, there are the players who’ve never stepped on the field for an official MLB game.

Alfredo Despaigne

We’ll start with Alfredo Despaigne, one of the most legendary hitters in Cuban national history and a fixture of Team Cuba since 2009.

Despaigne was a force for much of his early career with Granma of the CNS in Cuba. From there, the slugger spent several of his prime years in Japan, splitting time between Softbank and Chiba Lotte. His standout year in Japan came in 2019, as Despaigne blasted 36 home runs for the Softbank Hawks.

Between all the professional levels Despaigne has played in, the Cuban slugger has over 450 career home runs. However, at the age of 39, this may be his last WBC. After all, he hasn’t played in the CNS or NPB since 2023.

Hiromi Itoh

As one would expect, the best non-MLB players in the WBC come from Samurai Japan. Japan’s pitching staff has several notable arms who may not be known to many North American fans. One of those is Hiromi Itoh.

Last season with Nippon Ham, Itoh struck out 195 over 196.2, along with a 2.52 ERA. Itoh has been a fixture for the Fighters since his first season in the NPB back in 2021.

Itoh averaged around 93 MPH on his four-seamer, a pitch that got more-than-normal swing-and-miss in Japan. Aside from that pitch, he’ll regularly use a slider against righties and a splitter against lefties. He also uses a sinker, a changeup, and a cutter.

Kensuke Kondoh

Kensuke Kondoh was a lightning rod for Team Japan in 2023. Kondoh picked up nine hits for Samurai Japan in 2023, tied with Masataka Yoshida for the second-most on the team. And only Shohei Ohtani (10) had more than Kondoh.

Now 32 years of age, Kondoh made a name for himself as a fantastic contact hitter with Nippon Ham in the 2010s, playing alongside Ohtani for some of those years. However, he’s become more of a power hitter over the years, all while still making consistent contact. Kondoh had three straight double-digit home run seasons from 2023 to 2025.

Kondoh was one of the NPB’s best in terms of swing-and-miss and expanding out of the zone in 2025. And in 77 games with Softbank last year, he walked (45) more than he struck out (43).

Hiroya Miyagi

The Orix Buffaloes have been a pitching factory over the years. Yoshinobu Yamamoto developed into a superstar for the team before he left for North America. His former rotation mate, Hiroya Miyagi, has taken the mantle as dominant ace.

Miyagi is a very intriguing left-hander. The 24-year-old is only 5’7”, which would make him the smallest pitcher in the Majors if he were to be on an MLB roster (fellow Japanese pitcher Yuki Matsui is 5’8”). Still, the results are hard to argue with. Miyagi ripped through the Pacific League of the NPB, as he punched out 165 over 150 innings for Orix.

His fastball only sits in the low-90s. Miyagi will regularly use his slider, both against lefties and as a backfoot option against righties. And it works well.

Teruaki Sato

In the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 2025 exhibition game against Hanshin, Teruaki Sato took Blake Snell deep, off a 95 MPH fastball on the outer half of the plate. That was not Sato’s only home run of the year.

Sato hit 40 home runs and 78 extra-base hits in the JPCL of the Nippon Professional Baseball league last season, his finest season as a pro in Japan. The 26-year-old corner infielder/outfielder had three 20+ home run seasons in his pro career before 2025.

However, Sato did rank well below the league median in strikeouts, with 163 over 139 contests. And like Munetaka Murakami, he often whiffed on fastballs, as well.

H/T to NPB Pitch/Bat Profiler for advanced information.

Check out more of our MLB coverage, including a look at which prospects to watch out for in the 2026 World Baseball Classic.

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