Ranking the 5 best pitching staffs in the 2026 World Baseball Classic

Jon Hoefling, USA TODAYFri, March 6, 2026 at 10:03 AM UTC

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The World Baseball Classic always features the best pitching on the planet, and oftentimes, it goes underappreciated. The big hits and great defensive gems get all the attention, but it's easy to forget just how crucial the performances on the bump are.

In 2023, Japan won the World Baseball Classic largely due to clutch pitching from guys like Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani.

That said, given how prevalent pitch limits are at the World Baseball Classic, one star arm won't be enough to win a championship. These units require depth, star talent at every level from the starters to the middle relievers to the closer.

Here are the top-five pitching staffs at this year's WBC:

Best pitching staffs in the World Baseball Classic5) Canada

A few years ago, this Canada unit would've been dangerous. James Paxton, Jameson Taillon, Cal Quantrill, Michael Soroka. These are all guys who've had great moments in Major League Baseball. But those moments have passed them by.

Nonetheless, they are all still tremendously talented ball players, providing Canada with a relatively well-rounded starting rotation. While the bullpen certainly has some issues, there is enough talent throughout this roster to keep Canada in games, and based on its lineup, this could be a sleeper team in the tournament.

4) Mexico

Mexico doesn't boast a plethora of MLB arms, but it does have several strong bullpen options, most notably Andres Muñoz, who posted a 1.73 ERA with 38 saves for the Mariners in 2025, and Victor Vodnik, a Rockies pitcher who nearly managed a sub-3 ERA. That's impressive in its own right, but Vodnik is an absolute flamethrower with great control and a tendency to prevent fly balls. That's a winning combination.

As for its starters, the team returns a few names from the 2023 roster, including Taijuan Walker. However, many of them are coming off injury or struggled in 2025. Walker obviously had a down season (4.08 ERA) and struggled to get strikeouts, while Cubs pitcher Javier Assad only managed 37 innings while dealing with an oblique strain for most of last season.

This is an interesting group with a lot to prove, but a lot of potential.

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3) Dominican Republic

Outside of Sandy Alcantara and Christopher Sanchez, the starting pitchers on the Dominican Republic team are a bit lackluster. That said, Alcantara and Sanchez are both pretty good. The bullpen also has the potential to be nasty, with guys like Camilo Doval, Carlos Esteves, Gregory Soto, and Seranthony Dominguez all handling late-inning work.

This might be a pitching staff that the pitch count rules benefit. With so many talented late-inning arms, the DR could lean on its high-end flamethrowers more often than other countries will be able to.

2) Japan

While Shohei Ohtani will not take the mound for the Japanese this time, Japan still boasts a remarkable rotation, anchored by Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The last time we saw Yamamoto in a big-game situation, he won World Series MVP and almost single-handedly carried the Dodgers to back-to-back championships.

Outside of Yamamoto, other MLB talent like Tomoyuki Sugano and Yusei Kikuchi will be available as well. The relievers are also dangerous. Look no further than their numbers in the Nippon Professional League a season ago. Guys like Koki Kitayama posted a 1.59 ERA across 158.2 innings. Hiromi Itoh had a 2.52 ERA in nearly 200 innings.

Us Americans may not know these names, but that doesn't make them any less filthy.

1) United States

The United States has Paul Skenes and Tarik Skubal. That's practically everything that needs to be said. When you boast each of the reigning MLB Cy Young Award winners, you tend to steamroll through the competition.

But if that wasn't enough, the USA also has someone who has finished top-six in Cy Young voting each of the past three years in Logan Webb and a young stud in Nolan McLean. Meanwhile, it also has three-time Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw just for fun, and he probably won't play much.

Even if teams get beyond the starters, there's Mason Miller waiting for them. That's like crawling through hell just to reach super hell.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Power ranking top five pitching staffs at the 2026 WBC

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