Another Chicago Cubs player is going to be participating in the most star-loaded World Baseball Classic yet. Outfielder Seiya Suzuki, who had to miss the WBC last time around because of an ill-timed oblique injury, will be suiting up in March for Team Japan (also, very cooly, known as Samurai Japan), consistently one of the best teams in the international tournament.
Suzuki’s comment to the official team site, via translation: “I regret not being able to play last time, so I’m going to get in shape so I can play this year. I’m also honored to be able to represent Japan with everyone in the team. I’ll do my best for the team and for Japan.”
I hope Suzuki goes and rakes for Japan, feeling strong and healthy and confident heading into the regular season. Love these opportunities for these guys (again, as long as they stay healthy!).
Of note, Shota Imanaga, who’d previously pitched for Samurai Japan, is not on the roster this year. It’d been an open question whether he’d participate, and, although we don’t know yet the particulars, I do wonder if he wanted to focus fully on preparing for the 2026 MLB season given the way 2025 played out, and given that he accepted the Qualifying Offer in part as a way to potentially re-enter the market after a big season. (There is still at least one open spot on the roster, for what it’s worth, so it’s still possible Imanaga could be selected and choose to participate. For now, though, he’s not on the roster.)
The full roster, via Yakyu Cosmopolitan:
TWP Shohei Ohtani (LAD)
RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto (LAD)RHP Tomoyuki Sugano (Free Agent)RHP Hiromi Itoh (Nipponham)RHP Koki Kitayama (Nipponham)RHP Atsuki Taneichi (Lotte)RHP Hiroto Takahashi (Chunichi)RHP Kaima Taira (Seibu)RHP Yuki Matsumoto (SoftBank)RHP Daichi Ishii (Hanshin)RHP Taisei (Yomiuri)
LHP Yusei Kikuchi (LAA)LHP Yuki Matsui (SD)LHP Hiroya Miyagi (Orix)LHP Ryuhei Sotani (Orix)
C Seishiro Sakamoto (Hanshin)C Kenya Wakatsuki (Orix)C Yuhei Nakamura (Yakult)
1B Munetaka Murakami (CWS)2B Shugo Maki (DeNA)3B Kazuma Okamoto (TOR)3B Teruaki Sato (Hanshin)SS Kaito Kozono (Hiroshima)SS Sosuke Genda (Seibu)
OF Seiya Suzuki (CHC)OF Shota Morishita (Hanshin)OF Ukyo Shuto (SoftBank)OF Kensuke Kondoh (SoftBank)
UTL Taisei Makihara (SoftBank)
Other Cubs in the WBC include Alex Bregman, Pete Crow-Armstrong, and Matthew Boyd on Team USA, Daniel Palencia on Team Venezuela, and Jameson Taillon will be on Team Canada. There have been reports that Cubs prospect Jonathon Long will play for Team Chinese-Taipei, and Javier Assad has previously participated in international competition for Team Mexico.
The World Baseball Classic runs from March 5 through 17 at a variety of locations for pool play. The quarterfinals are in Miami and Houston, and the championship round is in Miami.
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