With the 2026 World Baseball Classic set to begin in March, the preliminary roster for Japan is here. Initial rosters are subject to change. Read on below for our team summary and breakdown of top players and prospects to know.<\/p>\n
Find all of our WBC coverage here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Team Summary: The defending champions, Samurai Japan returns a strong all-around squad boasting some of the biggest stars and firepower in the game. The lineup is led by one man: NL MVP and two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani<\/a>, though he\u2019s limited to hitting duties only this year. <\/p>\n Japan\u2019s rotation is still chock full of talent with World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto<\/a> backed by Yusei Kikuchi<\/a>, Tomoyuki Sugano<\/a> and Hiroto Takahashi<\/a>. The bullpen is an area of concern because it\u2019s populated with NPB pitchers and a lack of MLB quality experience. The lineup is powerful, with Ohtani flanked by Seiya Suzuki,<\/a> Kazuma Okamoto<\/a>, Munetaka Murakami<\/a> and Masataka Yoshida<\/a>. This is a veteran team with an older core of players and a wealth of international experience. Anything short of gold will be a disappointment for Japan.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Top Players: Ohtani is arguably the best player in baseball history. His elite two-way ability in tournament play is normally a cheat code, and he\u2019ll still lead Japan\u2019s lineup even though he\u2019s not expected to pitch. Yamamoto has successfully made the transition to MLB and is arguably one of the top five pitchers on the planet.\u00a0<\/p>\n Best Prospects: While not a traditional prospect, Murakami is rookie-eligible in 2026. Japan is an older team and Murakami is one of three players born in\u00a02000 or after on the roster.<\/p>\n Pool C<\/p>\n Japan<\/p>\n Australia<\/p>\n Korea<\/p>\n Czechia<\/p>\n Chinese Taipei<\/p>\n Dates\/Location: March 5-10, Tokyo, Japan.<\/p>\n Japan World Baseball Classic Roster<\/p>\n playerposbatsthrowsheightweightagemlb orgclubIshii, DaichiRHPRR5-0917628Hanshin Tigers (JPN)Itoh, HiromiRHPLR5-1018128Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters (JPN)Kikuchi, YuseiLHPLL6-0021034LAALos Angeles AngelsKitayama, KokiRHPRR6-0019026Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters (JPN)Matsui, YukiLHPLL5-0816530SDSan Diego PadresMatsumoto, YukiRHPLR6-0020329Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (JPN)Miyagi, HiroyaLHPLL5-0717224ORIX Buffaloes (JPN)Ota, TaiseiRHPRR5-1119426Yomiuri Giants (JPN)Sotani, RyuheiLHPLL6-0018325ORIX Buffaloes (JPN)Sugano, TomoyukiRHPRR6-0123036\u2013Taira, KaimaRHPLR5-0822026Saitama Seibu Lions (JPN)Takahashi, HirotoRHPRR6-0219023Chunichi Dragons (JPN)Taneichi, AtsukiRHPRR6-0019427Chiba Lotte Marines (JPN)Yamamoto, YoshinobuRHPRR5-1018027LADLos Angeles DodgersNakamura, YuheiCRR5-0917435Tokyo Yakult Swallows (JPN)Sakamoto, SeishiroCRR5-1017432Hanshin Tigers (JPN)Wakatsuki, KenyaCRR5-1119430ORIX Buffaloes (JPN)Genda, SosukeSSLR5-1116532Saitama Seibu Lions (JPN)Kozono, KaitoSSLR5-1019025Hiroshima Toyo Carp (JPN)Maki, Shugo2BRR5-1020527Yokohama DeNA BayStars (JPN)Makihara, TaiseiUTLLR5-0816133Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (JPN)Murakami, Munetaka1BLR6-0221326CWSChicago White SoxOkamoto, Kazuma3BRR6-0122029TORToronto Blue JaysSato, Teruaki3BLR6-0220926Hanshin Tigers (JPN)Kondo, KensukeLFLR5-0719032Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (JPN)Morishita, ShotaRFRR6-0020525Hanshin Tigers (JPN)Shuto, UkyoCFLR5-1115429Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (JPN)Suzuki, SeiyaRFRR5-1118231CHCChicago CubsYoshida, MasatakaLFLR5-0817632BOSBoston Red SoxOhtani, ShoheiDHLR6-0420031LADLos Angeles Dodgers<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With the 2026 World Baseball Classic set to begin in March, the preliminary roster for Japan is here.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":557045,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2302],"tags":[10264,5,2353,2352],"class_list":{"0":"post-557044","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-npb","8":"tag-2026-world-baseball-classic","9":"tag-baseball","10":"tag-nippon-professional-baseball","11":"tag-npb"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116021259544478410","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=557044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557044\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/557045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=557044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=557044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=557044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}