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The United States' official roster for the World Baseball Classic came out on Thursday.
And holy cow, Team USA is loaded.
Most of the best players in the pool chose to play, and so the lineup and pitching rotation will be incredible.
We've taken a crack at breaking that all down right here.
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Team USA projected lineup for WBC 2026
For the sake of this, this is a possible lineup against right-handed pitching:
- Bobby Witt Jr. SS
- Aaron Judge RF
- Cal Raleigh C
- Kyle Schwarber DH
- Byron Buxton CF
- Corbin Carroll LF
- Alex Bregman 3B
- Gunnar Henderson SS
- Brice Turang 2B
If the consecutive lefties isn't viewed as an issue, Carroll and Henderson could both be moved up.
Team USA has two hitters, Ernie Clement and Paul Goldschmidt, who both hit from the right side and mash lefties, so they could factor into platoon matchups.
Will Smith is the backup to Raleigh, and Pete Crow-Armstrong brings immense tools to the outfield.
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Team USA projected pitching rotation, bullpen
It's a lot harder to project pitching given that it'll be March and players won't be fully stretched out.
But this is a possible starting rotation:
- Paul Skenes
- Tarik Skubal
- Logan Webb
- Joe Ryan
- Nolan McLean
- Matt Boyd
The U.S. also has starting pitchers Matt Boyd, Clay Holmes and Michael Wacha on the roster. And don't forget Clayton Kershaw, whose role is to be determined.
It seems like Mason Miller will earn the closer job.
The bullpen also will include David Bednar, Garrett Cleavinger, Griffin Jax, Brad Keller, Gabe Speier and Garrett Whitlock.
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