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00:00The 2026 World Baseball Classic, it's already delivering the kind of drama and electric atmosphere that has made this tournament
00:06one of the most exciting events in international sports.
00:09Team USA, they're off to a perfect 2-0 start in pool play as they look to position themselves for
00:15another deep run in this tournament.
00:17But the competition is fierce. Defending champions in Japan, they've already clinched its pool, while traditional powerhouses like the Dominican
00:24Republic and Puerto Rico, they're showing early signs that they could make serious runs in this tournament.
00:29So, what should we make of the early storylines in this year's WBC?
00:35For more on this, I'm joined by a New York Post sports contributor and a big fan of international competition
00:41in all sports.
00:42His name is Brian Fonseca, and he joins me now.
00:45Brian, how you doing, man? I know you are enjoying the WBC because nobody I know loves international competition as
00:52much as you do.
00:53I have to keep reminding people why these tournaments matter and mean so much to a lot of people.
00:58Well, Quique Hernandez did the work for me today. I don't know if you saw what he said earlier.
01:01I did not see what he said. What comment did he make?
01:04He said that he played in a bunch of World Series, and I'm paraphrasing, but he basically said this means
01:09more to him than playing in the World Series.
01:12It's going to make some people mad.
01:14A lot of people were surprised by that, and it's like, yo, it's different for these dudes when they're playing
01:18for their people and the culture they represent as opposed to a random city in the United States.
01:23I get it. I always understand it, but we understand some people are going to be mad because rule number
01:28one, you can always be mad.
01:31But, Brian, let's get into it right here.
01:33Team USA, they're off to a 2-0 start, as I mentioned, in pool play, including a strong performance from
01:37Clay Holmes, New York Mets pitcher, on the mound.
01:40When you look at how this team has opened the tournament, what has stood out to you the most about
01:44the way that they're playing right now?
01:47They're doing what they're supposed to. They're handling their business. They're not playing with their food too much.
01:52I mean, with Great Britain, the offense took a little bit to get going, but ultimately they handled business.
01:58Clay Holmes, as you mentioned, struck out the side at one point, had six strikeouts in three innings, looked really
02:02good in relief.
02:04And ultimately, they haven't had one of the stiff tests yet.
02:08Now, their pool, I wouldn't call it the most difficult, but we're still awaiting their games against Mexico and Italy.
02:15Against Mexico in particular, but against Mexico and Italy.
02:18So that's where my eye is sort of towards right now as it pertains to Team USA.
02:23But beating Brazil 15-5, beating Great Britain 9-1, that's about what you expect with a team this loaded.
02:30One of the best lineups, obviously, in this competition and obviously a really good pitching staff.
02:34Yeah, definitely there and hopefully poised to dominate as fans of Team USA are looking to do.
02:40But now at 2-0, they are in position to potentially clinch pool B.
02:43How important is it for them to, as you said, not play with their food, lock that up early, not
02:48just for advancement,
02:49but for momentum and pitching management moving into the knockout stage?
02:53How important is it for them to wrap this up in their next game?
02:56You always want to try to win your group to position yourself just for a better matchup in the next
03:01round.
03:01So if you win the group, I mean, you'll get the lesser of whoever's in second place from Pool A.
03:07Pool A is a pretty tough group right now, and you have three teams without a loss.
03:11Canada notwithstanding, we have to see how their matchup with Panama, which is going on right now as we speak,
03:15how that sort of ends up.
03:16Puerto Rico is 2-0, Cuba is 2-0.
03:19They're actually going to play against each other on March 9th.
03:22That's going to be fun.
03:23We'll see what happens there.
03:24And if Canada does end up beating Panama, Canada is going to be in the mix too to get one
03:28of those spots.
03:29So there's a potential for USA versus Puerto Rico, USA versus Canada, USA versus Cuba.
03:34All of those will have probably ripple effects beyond baseball in terms of their intrigue, is what I would say,
03:40Dex.
03:40But ultimately, you do want to position yourself for the lesser of those two teams, obviously.
03:45If you don't win your group, it's not the end of the world because obviously Team USA is good enough
03:49to advance.
03:51But you would want to do more than just that.
03:54You beat Mexico and Italy.
03:56You're able to cruise.
03:57You're 4-0, and you are where you're supposed to be.
04:00That being said, you get out of group play or pool play, as it's called in the World Baseball Classic,
04:05single elimination from then on out.
04:06And basically, you're playing with March Madness and anything could happen.
04:09But that being said, they obviously have more than enough in totality to get by this pool and to get
04:14to at least the championship rounds, if not win the whole thing.
04:18All right, we'll get to that a little bit later about them getting to that championship round and possibly winning
04:23the whole thing.
04:23Let's talk about the defending champs.
04:25That is Japan.
04:26They have already clinched their pool.
04:28We've already seen moments like Shohei Ohtani coming up big with some homers, which you kind of expect, Shohei Ohtani
04:33things.
04:34But does it feel like Japan is still the gold standard in this tournament right now?
04:41Yeah, kind of.
04:44Like, I was talking with our guy, Bradford William Davis, about this beforehand.
04:48And, you know, we were talking about whether it felt like Japan brought the same level of talent as it
04:53did in the last World Baseball Classic.
04:55But inevitably, what it's going to be, it's guys that we discover who then become really good beyond just, obviously,
05:01Shohei Ohtani, who we know all about.
05:03And frankly, are getting like really, really getting to know on this world level again or getting reacquainted with.
05:09But remember, years ago, many World Baseball Classics ago, this is how we discovered Daisuke Matsusaka, or at least many
05:15of us did.
05:16Obviously, in Asia, you already knew who he was.
05:18And he came out and killed it in this tournament multiple times.
05:21And we saw what he did in turning this into a, you know, very, very enriching Major League Baseball career
05:27after that.
05:28Japan is really, really good, really stacked.
05:30And also, they have a group that they're on track to win right now.
05:33They're 3-0.
05:34The only team that's 3-0 so far, obviously.
05:36I think the Dominican Republic is going to join them.
05:39The Dominican Republic is probably the team that I've been the most impressed with in terms of just the sheer
05:44talent and lineup that they have.
05:46They've mercy-ruled the Netherlands today.
05:48They have Julio Rodriguez batting 7th in their lineup.
05:52They, I think, might be the most complete lineup out of everybody in this tournament.
05:57And it's ridiculous how much talent that that team has.
06:00And they're going to be in a showdown with Venezuela at some point.
06:04That's probably going to be for the pool.
06:06That's going to determine a lot in terms of who gets to avoid Japan longer.
06:10So that's really one to circle.
06:13It's frankly the matchup that I'm looking forward to the most as far as all these matchups go.
06:17Pool D, Miami, Dominican Republic versus Venezuela.
06:20And the crowd is going to be amazing for that, too.
06:23But the winner of that will probably get the gift of avoiding Japan, at least for the quarterfinals.
06:28Yeah, that will be very interesting.
06:30But you mentioned the Dominican Republic and the DR.
06:33They put the world on notice with an offensive explosion.
06:35Four home runs in one game you talked about today.
06:39You just kind of waxed poetic about their roster.
06:41But when you look at their roster and their lineup in particular,
06:45do they have the most dangerous lineup in the entire tournament?
06:48And is that enough to carry them to glory in this tournament?
06:53Yes.
06:53Yes and yes.
06:54Like, I wonder if they'll have enough pitching is probably the only thing.
06:58Like, once you face the Japan, once you face the United States.
07:01And obviously, it's a single elimination.
07:03Like, I can't even tell you that they're guaranteed to even beat Venezuela,
07:06who I think is also really talented.
07:09But the Dominican Republic, I mean, Juan Soto, Julio Rodriguez, who I mentioned,
07:13Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado, like, all these different guys.
07:17And, you know, Keto Marte as well.
07:19Like, all these different guys on their team are all-stars and have been all-stars
07:25and could be, like, they could compete with, like, a National League
07:29or an American League all-star team.
07:31That's how good this lineup is and how good this team is.
07:33They're obviously capable of winning the whole thing.
07:36They just have electric bat after electric bat on their roster.
07:40They have galvanizing personalities beyond that also.
07:43Like, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., for example, who had a big hit in today's game as well.
07:47Like, Austin Wells.
07:49You know what I mean?
07:49Like, this is all over team.
07:51It's just stacked.
07:52And on top of that, you have guys who are gap hitters.
07:56You have guys who can obviously take it deep, have power.
07:59You have guys who can get extra base hits.
08:00You have guys with speed as well.
08:02There was a time in the game against the Netherlands today
08:04where Juan Soto had such a big leap, had such a great jump on the pitcher
08:08to steal second base that there wasn't even a throw.
08:11And that's Juan Soto.
08:12You know what I mean?
08:12Like, I'm not even talking about, like, Juan Pierre in his prime.
08:15Like, this is a team that just has everything they need offensively.
08:20We'll see when it comes to everything else.
08:21Like, Juan Soto did have an error in the first game that people wanted to run
08:25and post on social media, so to speak.
08:27But at the same time, the team is really good.
08:29They're good enough to win.
08:30And I think they're the biggest threat to a Japan versus Team USA repeat.
08:35And it's not even that close right now.
08:38All right, so you got them as the biggest threat to that rematch
08:41between Japan and Team USA.
08:42But we got to talk about another nation here.
08:45We got to talk about your nation, Puerto Rico.
08:48They always seem, and Brian, you know this,
08:50they seem to bring a different kind of energy to this event.
08:53Both from the players, right?
08:56That's number one, the energy they're bringing.
08:58Than the fans that we've seen in San Juan.
09:00How much of an advantage does that passion and environment give them
09:05during this tournament?
09:06And I also have to say, we need more of that in Major League Baseball.
09:10Please watch what they're doing there.
09:12That's the kind of energy we need to bring to games.
09:14But I digress.
09:15How much of an advantage does that passion and environment give the Puerto Ricans
09:19during this tournament?
09:21Beyond that, the win was so important, too.
09:24I mean, for people who missed it, and you probably haven't by now,
09:27just an electric moment.
09:28And they were down 2-1 in the bottom of the ninth.
09:32And I was watching the game like, yo, they just don't have the offense.
09:35And then this goes back to all the insurance of things that they dealt with
09:40that didn't allow Carlos Correa to play, didn't allow Francisco Lindor to play,
09:43Javi Baez wasn't allowed to play, and so on and so forth.
09:46Like, they were the team impacted the most by this, one would argue,
09:49and I would argue that.
09:50And then you get into extra innings, you get the bases-loaded walk,
09:54you have the man on second, obviously, in extra innings because you've got to
09:58speed these games up.
09:59And then you have, in a do-or-die situation,
10:03Darrell Ernaiz gets the walk-off home run, electric, 10th inning against Panama,
10:08in a game they needed to win.
10:10Like, you could not afford, if you want to advance, if you're Puerto Rico,
10:12you can't really afford to lose that game against Panama, even if you're home,
10:16because you do have Cuba coming up, that's going to be a pretty dangerous
10:19matchup, and we're going to see what happens with the Canadian national team
10:22as well, who people are optimistic about, and we're optimistic about going
10:25into this tournament.
10:25But the electricity, like, the crowd shots are so good.
10:29Frankly, I mean, there's everybody, if you go to a game,
10:32a Hiram Bithorn Stadium, they're going to show you in the crowd.
10:35Like, they're showing every single person possible on the Fox and FS1
10:40broadcasts, you know, with the different hats and things of that nature,
10:42but, like, the Bad Bunny hat and, you know, all the different variations of PR,
10:46not this one, though, because this one's limited edition.
10:49But, like, you see all the different gear and everything like that.
10:53It's just great.
10:54I love it.
10:55Frankly, I wish I was there for work reasons.
10:57I couldn't be.
10:58But, you know, I do think that they're bringing the energy,
11:02and the team needs it because this isn't the best version of what the team
11:05could be, ultimately.
11:06But, hey, we did see this catapult the team into success.
11:10Puerto Rico was able to host a FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament
11:14in 2024, and the basketball team ended up going to the Olympics
11:18off the strength of their crowd, beating Lithuania, beating Mexico,
11:21beating the Italian national team, underdogs in multiple games,
11:24and were able to get to the Olympics for the first time in 20 years.
11:27Maybe this magic will transfer to the baseball team now.
11:30We'll see.
11:31We shall see.
11:32It's very interesting to see what's going on with the Puerto Rico national baseball team.
11:35Last thing for me, Brian, if Team USA, Japan, and the Dominican Republic
11:41are the teams many people expect to be there at the end of this tournament,
11:46who do you think has the edge right now, and what will ultimately decide
11:51who wins this World Baseball Classic in 2026?
11:55It's going to be pitching.
11:57I'm still going to say that Japan has the best all-around chance,
12:01has the best all-around team, and right now has obviously looked dominant
12:05in this tournament, and we expect that to continue for at least pool play.
12:09But the Dominican Republic, I can't stop watching this lineup
12:13and being captivated by, hey, any inning, they can just go off for a series of hits
12:17and a series of runs and just really put the pressure on you.
12:21They can mercy rule just about any team in this tournament,
12:24except for obviously the other elite ones like the ones we're talking about.
12:27I think Japan end-to-end, and Team USA obviously has a great lineup.
12:32Aaron Judge, you saw his home run in the first game.
12:34That's something that you have a lot of guys with the capability of doing.
12:37They also have some speed.
12:38But I think with the pitching, that's what it's going to come down to.
12:42Can the Dominican Republic, who I believe has maybe the most talented bats
12:45in this tournament, can they get enough outs?
12:48Can they produce enough outs?
12:49And from a defensive perspective, can they get it done on the field?
12:53Because hitting is one thing, but obviously we know this.
12:56Watching the Mets in this market, one of the things they talk about all the time
12:59is run prevention.
13:00And so far, Dominican Republic has been able to hold up their under the bargain
13:03in terms of run prevention.
13:05But again, they haven't played Venezuela yet.
13:07And I think I don't want to sleep on Venezuela too much.
13:09I think they're a team that also has some electricity
13:11and has some gap hitters as well and has some power as well in their lineup.
13:15But I think it's going to come down to who can just execute
13:18in terms of a pitching staff.
13:20Because we know, Dex, you're not having one guy go out there
13:23and give you seven innings.
13:25There are pitch counts.
13:26There are limitations.
13:27You're going to need to piece together with four, five, maybe six different guys.
13:32It's situational.
13:32And when we get to the end, we might even see more than that.
13:35So do they have the arms to sort of get them through
13:40if the pitching is there from, say, a Japan or the United States?
13:44But right now, I think the Dominican Republic look awesome.
13:46I think Team USA is getting it done.
13:48And I think Japan looks dominant.
13:49And I think those three are above everybody else right now as we speak.
13:53All right.
13:53We will see who comes out on top at the end of this World Baseball Classic.
13:57Team USA off to a good start at 2-0.
13:59Japan, they clinched their group at 3-0.
14:01Dominican Republic also off to that good 2-0 start as well.
14:05That is Brian Fonseca, contributing with us here at New York Post Sports.
14:10Brian, I'm going to let you get back to enjoying the rest of what you love,
14:14international competition with the World Baseball Classic.
14:16Thank you, man.
14:17I'll be doing a watch-along on my channel, Puerto Rico's next game Tuesday night.
14:21So tune in for that.
14:22Of course you will.
14:23Of course you will.
14:24Thank you, man.
14:24Appreciate it.
14:26Thanks, guys.
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