World Baseball Classic Primer: Phillies Making Mark in WBC

by Marc Narducci | Mar 9, 2026

The World Baseball Classic has begun, and it certainly adds plenty of spice instead of just depending on spring training MLB games for your March MLB enjoyment.

The WBC has an Olympics feel to it.

We’re not suggesting that it has the same appeal as the Olympics, but the WBC is extremely popular, with the players outwardly showing how much it means to represent their country.

This is the sixth version.

Here are the previous champions

2006: Japan

2009: Japan

2013: Dominican Republic

2017: USA

2023: Japan

The 2023 final had Japan beating USA, 3-2 in the championship game, with Shohei Ohtani striking out his then Los Angeles Angels teammate Mike Trout to end the game.

This year’s tournament began on Friday.

The top two teams in the four pools of five teams will advance to the single-elimination quarterfinals.

The USA is in a pool with Brazil, Mexico, Italy and Great Britain.

Through Sunday, USA, Mexico and Italy were 2-0. Mexico and USA are scheduled to meet Monday night.

Here is the USA Pool Schedule and TV listings

Monday March 9: USA vs Mexico, 8 p.m. FOX

Tuesday March 10: Italy vs USA, 9 p.m. FS1

If the USA advances, then here is the rest of the schedule

Quarterfinals

Friday March 13: 6:30 FS2 and 8:00, FOX

Saturday March 14: 3 p.m., FS1; and 9 p.m. FOX

Semifinals

Sunday March 15, 8 p.m. FS1

Monday, March 16, 8 p.m. FS1

Championship

Tuesday, March 17, 8 pm FOX

Other top teams

While the USA entered the tournament as the favorite, Japan and the Dominican Republic are major contenders, while Venezuela and Mexico can’t be counted out. Ohtani is not pitching in this tournament, but he certainly is hitting. He crushed two home runs in Japan’s first two games. Japan was the first team to qualify for the quarterfinals by winning its first three games.

Phillies influence

There are plenty of Phillies making an impact in the WBC. Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber are on team USA. Schwarber’s moon shot of a two-run home run gave the USA the lead for good in its 10-1 win over Great Britain.

Harper has started the first two games at first base, going 2-for-9 with one RBI. Schwarber was a sizzling 4-for-8 with the aforementioned 2-run home run.

The third Phillie on the team is newly signed relief pitcher Brad Keller, who pitched a scoreless inning with two strikeouts in the 9-1 win over Great Britain. (The USA opened with a 15-5 win over Brazil).

There are plenty of Phillies competing for other teams. Here are some of their highlights

Taijuan Walker pitched 3.1 hitless and shutout innings and earned the win in Mexico’s xx win over Brazil on Sunday. In the pool play, pitchers are able to throw a maximum of 65 pitches. Walker threw 64 pitches, striking out three and walking two.

Phillies lefthander Cristopher Sanchez, who was second in the CY Young Award voting last season, had a rough outing in the Dominican Republic’s 12-3 win over Nicaragua. Sanchez started the game and allowed six hits and three earned runs in 1.1 innings, although he did strike out four.

Dante Nori, the Phillies first round draft choice in 2024 who played at Single-A Clearwater and Jersey Shore while also appearing in five games for Double-A Reading last year, was off to a sizzling start for Italy. In his first two games, the 21-year-old Norti was 5-for-7 with two home runs and three RBIs.

Phillies Kyle Schwarber / Courtesy of World Baseball Classic X/Twitter

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Author: Marc Narducci

World Baseball Classic Primer: Phillies Making Mark in WBC

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