Yoshinobu Yamamoto will play for Japan in 2026 World Baseball Classic

Team Japan is ready to defend their title ahead of the 2026 World Baseball Classic, and their rotation will feature the reigning World Series MVP and ace of the Dodgers pitching staff.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto will join teammate Shohei Ohtani as the two Dodgers to announce their participation for the World Baseball Classic, per Yahoo! Japan. Yamamoto made his name known during the 2023 tournament, pitching in two games and making one start, tossing 7 1/3 innings and allowing two runs on four hits, striking out a team-high 12 hitters while walking four and holding opponents to a .160 batting average.

Team Japan will not display the trio of Dodgers starters on their roster, as Roki Sasaki will not participate in the tournament due to injury concerns.

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Freddie Freeman was the most recent guest on the 611 podcast with former Phillies Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins, where they discussed topics such as first base conversations (which are exclusively non-baseball related), the rivalry between the Phillies and Braves, the exciting crop of young talent in the league today, and playing in the World Series in Toronto as the son of two Canadian-born parents.

“When we won [the World Series] there, I wasn’t thinking ‘Oh, I just won in my mom and dad’s home country…’ There were a lot of special things that were happening and to win it how we did also. To be in the home country of my mom and dad and win a World Series, it’s special, especially to play for Team Canada in the past two WBC’s… I care about that country a lot.”

The Dodgers will do what the Dodgers do in the offseason, and that means going after prized free agents that fit their agenda, with the first addition being closer Edwin Díaz. None of that would have been possible had it not been for former Dodger outfielder Andre Ethier, as he spoke with David Vassegh of AM 570 about recruiting Díaz during the MLB awards in Las Vegas.

“I don’t know if it was meant to be or not, but I was at a table at the awards show with Edwin Díaz, and that was the first thing I said to him as soon as we sat down was, ‘You’re going to sign with the Dodgers. Right?’ And of course, he gave me that smirk and I sat there for the entire two hour event and talked up the Dodgers to him the whole time. I don’t know if I had a hand in it or not, but I like to say that I was one of the first ones to go heavy and hard after him that he should be a Dodger.”