Where to watch the Orioles in the World Baseball Classic 2026
This year’s edition of the World Baseball Classic gets under way on what is, to us, Wednesday night with games kicking off in Tokyo. Most teams will be playing exhibitions against a major league club on Tuesday or Wednesday with their pool play beginning on Friday. The Orioles players who are on these rosters will not be back in camp until their team has been eliminated from the tournament.
Here’s the players from the Orioles organization who are on WBC rosters and the schedules for their teams:
USA
- Gunnar Henderson
The star Orioles shortstop is the lone American representative this time around. He might be playing third base rather than shortstop, with Royals infielder Bobby Witt Jr. expected to get a lot of reps at short.
Schedule and opponents
Pool play in Houston, Texas
- March 3: Exhibition vs. Giants, 3pm, ESPN
- March 6: vs. Brazil (road team), 8pm, Fox
- March 7: vs. Great Britain (home team), 8pm, Fox
- March 9: vs. Mexico (home team), 8pm, Fox
- March 10: vs. Italy (home team), 9pm, FS1
Canada
- Tyler O’Neill
- Micah Ashman
The Canadian outfielder O’Neill continued his Opening Day home run streak in his home country last year. He’s looked good so far this spring. Don’t get hurt while playing for Team Canada! Ashman, a reliever, was acquired from the Tigers for Charlie Morton last July.
Schedule and opponents
Pool play in San Juan, PR
- March 3: Exhibition vs. Blue Jays, 1:07, MLB Network
- March 7: vs. Colombia (home team), 11am, FS2
- March 8: vs. Panama (home team), 7pm, FS2
- March 10: vs. Puerto Rico (road team), 7pm, FS2
- March 11: vs. Cuba (road team), 3pm, FS2
Great Britain
- Ryan Long
It’s a running joke on Camden Chat that Long is a distant cousin of our writer Stacey. Long, 26, was a 17th round pick in 2021 who has mostly topped out at the Double-A level.
Schedule and opponents
Pool play in Houston, Texas
- March 6: vs. Mexico (home team), 1pm, FS1
- March 7: vs. USA (road team), 8pm, Fox
- March 8: vs. Italy (road team), 1pm, tubi
- March 9: vs. Brazil (home team), 1pm, tubi
Israel
- Dean Kremer
There are a number of MLB-experienced players on the Israel roster and one of them is Kremer, who might even be the best pitcher this team has.
Schedule and opponents
Pool play in Miami, Florida
- March 7: vs. Venezuela (road team), 7pm, FS2
- March 8: vs. Nicaragua (home team), 7pm, tubi
- March 9: vs. Dominican Republic (home team), 12pm, FS1
- March 10: vs. Netherlands (road team), 7pm, Fox Sports
Panama
- Enrique Bradfield Jr.
We know he’s good on defense and we know he’s fast on the bases. Can he threaten enough power to be a decent major league regular? Mostly we’ll find out at Triple-A this year, though if he gets to face some MLB-caliber pitching in the WBC, that won’t be bad for him either.
Schedule and opponents
Pool play in San Juan, PR
- March 6: vs. Cuba (home team), 11am, FS2
- March 7: vs. Puerto Rico (road team), 6pm, FS1
- March 8: vs. Canada (road team), 7pm, FS2
- March 9: vs. Colombia (home team), 12pm, FS2
Puerto Rico
- Jose Espada
- Rico Garcia
- Luis Vásquez
All three of these players appeared for the Orioles last season, although none had a major role. Garcia has a spot penciled in that’s his in the bullpen. Espada, no longer on the 40-man roster, could make it as well. Vásquez has an opportunity to take a utility spot given that both Jackson Holliday and Jordan Westburg are starting the season on the injured list.
Schedule and opponents
Pool play in San Juan, PR
- March 6: vs. Colombia (road team), 6pm, FS1
- March 7: vs. Panama (home team), 6pm, FS1
- March 9: vs. Cuba (road team), 7pm, FS1
- March 10: vs. Canada (home team), 7pm, tubi
Reserve players
The following players are on the Designated Pitcher Pool for their teams, meaning they are not on the active initial roster but could be added between rounds:
- Australia: Kailen Hamson
- Dominican Republic: Yaramil Hiraldo
- Mexico: Nestor German
2026 Fantasy Baseball Breakouts: Who's ready to make a splash at C, 1B, 2B, SS and 3B?
Drafting a team of safe, boring players is a great way to finish in third place. While those with a high floor have their place in a fantasy baseball draft, managers need to chase high ceilings at some point in the selection process if they want to build a truly special roster. The infielders listed below have a good chance to take a major step forward this year and are excellent targets in any draft.
[Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Baseball league for the 2026 MLB season]
Please note that I omitted rookies, as any production from first-year players would constitute some degree of a breakout season.
Shea Langeliers, C, Athletics
Coming off a pair of productive seasons, Langeliers is a step away from a Cal Raleigh-esque campaign. The slugger was dominant in the second half of 2025, when he used improvements in fly ball rate and pull rate to hit .328 with 19 homers and 45 RBI in 57 games. He boosted his year-over-year batting average by more than 50 points, thanks to a vastly improved 19.7% strikeout rate. Langeliers barrels up the ball often, is part of a rapidly improving lineup and calls home to a hitter-friendly venue. He could produce 35-40 homers and 100 RBI.
Luke Keaschall, 2B, Minnesota Twins
Managers in categories leagues should be excited to draft Keaschall at his ADP (123.6), as he will be among the steals leaders this year. The 23-year-old has an exceptional ability to get his bat on the ball and maintains a strong line drive rate, which will ensure a high batting average. He also knows how to use his plate patience to reach base, as he posted elite walk rates in the minors and logged an impressive 9.2% mark as a rookie. Keaschall doesn’t hit the ball hard, but that is the case with several speedsters, and his 86.2 mph average exit velocity is similar to the mark Brice Turang posted when he stole 50 bases in 2024. The rebuilding Twins will let Keaschall run aggressively from a premium lineup spot, which will result in 40 steals and 85 runs.
Colson Montgomery, 3B/SS, Chicago White Sox
In some cases, breakout seasons are merely a repeat of skills shown in smaller sample sizes, but this time stretched over a full campaign. That will be the case with Montgomery this season, after he homered 21 times in 71 games as a rookie. Although he won’t stay on that 45-homer pace, the 24-year-old will use his penchant for pulled fly balls to go deep 35 times, and even in a weak White Sox lineup, he can drive in 85 runs. It’s also worth noting that although Montgomery could stand to lower his strikeout rate, he achieved his .239 average with a .263 BABIP, which means that his batted-ball luck could improve in Year 2.
Ezequiel Tovar, SS, Colorado Rockies
Several small changes could lead to a breakout season for Tovar, who has already had some solid campaigns and is still just 24 years old. The youngster will never be confused with Juan Soto or Bryce Harper when it comes to plate discipline, but he made minor improvements to his strikeout and walk rates last year. He also posted a career-best 89.4 mph average exit velocity, and his xBA, xSLG and xwOBA were career-high marks. Finally, his line drive improved to a lofty 27.8% last year, and he dealt with an unfortunate 9.0% HR/FB rate that held his home run total down.
Beyond his skill gains, Tovar should be helped by the fact that the Rockies offense is bound to improve. The team scored just 587 runs, which was the lowest total in a 162-game season in franchise history. Even in a down year, Colorado’s lineup uses the benefits of Coors Field to score roughly 700 runs. I’m not predicting the Rockies to make major strides as a team, but their offense should be significantly more productive this year.
Otto Lopez, 2B/SS, Miami Marlins
Think that we saw the Lopez breakout season last year? Think again. Through a consolidation of skills he has already shown, Lopez could take another step forward this year. Thanks to more playing time and an improved fly-ball rate, the infielder produced a career-high 15 homers, which is a repeatable total. This year’s improvements will come in the batting average category, as last year he was hampered by a .264 BABIP, which negated an improved 13.8% strikeout rate.
With better batted-ball luck, Lopez could hit .280 while using the increase in base knocks and his 81st percentile sprint speed to post career-high marks in steals and runs scored.
Miguel Vargas, 1B/3B, Chicago White Sox
For the deep-league crowd, I offer Vargas as a late-round breakout candidate. The 26-year-old who debuted way back in 2022 finally played a full season in 2025. The results were respectable but not impressive. Still, we saw some improvements, most notably major strides with a strikeout rate that was cut to 17.6%. Vargas has always produced many fly balls (career 50.3% rate) and respectable exit velocities but has been saddled by a lowly lifetime 7.3% HR/FB rate. That mark will finally push past 10% this year, which will give Vargas 25-homer potential.
3 Nets takeaways from 106-102 loss to James Harden, Cavaliers
NEW YORK -- The Brooklyn Nets (15-45) are still looking for their first win coming out of the All-Star break, but they had a better chance of ending their losing streak with the Cleveland Cavaliers (38-24) missing Donovan Mitchell due to injury. Brooklyn came into the game dealing with two injuries to center Nic Claxton and rookie guard Egor Demin and it seems like the Nets could have used both of them.
The Netslost to the Cavaliers on Sunday 106-102 despite the fact that Brooklyn never trailed by more than 11 points as they had arguably their best effort since coming back from the break. Forward Michael Porter Jr. led the way for the Nets with 26 points and five rebounds while rookie forward Danny Wolf had 23 points and nine rebounds coming off the bench.
The main reason that the Cavaliers were able to emerge from this game with a victory was due to the efforts of guard James Harden (22 points, nine rebounds, eight assists) and center Jarrett Allen (20 points, six rebounds). Brooklyn was unable to come away from this game with their desired result, but they gave a much better effort. Here are three Nets takeaways from Sunday's loss to the Cavaliers:
Michael Porter Jr. Impacts Both Ends Of The Floor
Porter, who finished this game with 26 points (10-of-17 from the field, 5-of-8 from three-point land) and five rebounds, has clearly been the offensive engine for the Nets this entire season, but this game showed how impactful he can be on the defensive end when he's locked in. Porter used his length to get into the passing lanes and racked up three of Brooklyn's 10 steals against a Cavaliers team missing Donovan Mitchell.
Rookie Danny Wolf Impresses Off The Bench
Wolf has had some rough stretches this season while trying to provide some semblance of consistency off the bench as a rookie, but he has found his stride as of late. Coming off his best month of the season, Wolf had arguably his best game of the season against the Cavaliers after dropping 23 points, nine rebounds, and five assists in 27 minutes off the bench.
Grant Nelson Sparks Bench Unit
Nelson, playing in just his second game with Brooklyn after signing a 10-day contract with the club after spending the entire season in Long Island, came off the bench with quite the impact in his first stint on the floor. Nelson, who played 20 minutes for head coach Jordi Fernandez, dropped 11 points, four rebounds, one steal, and three blocks as he brought the kind of spark that the team is looking for in every game, especially one against a formidable opponent like the Cavaliers.
This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: 3 Nets takeaways from 106-102 loss to James Harden, Cavaliers