{"id":498595,"date":"2026-01-26T20:15:33","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T00:15:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.net\/en\/uncategorized\/ohtani-and-yamamoto-lead-japans-selection-for-the-2026-world-baseball-classic\/"},"modified":"2026-01-26T20:15:33","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T00:15:33","slug":"ohtani-and-yamamoto-lead-japans-selection-for-the-2026-world-baseball-classic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/sports\/baseball\/ohtani-and-yamamoto-lead-japans-selection-for-the-2026-world-baseball-classic\/","title":{"rendered":"Ohtani and Yamamoto lead Japan&#8217;s selection for the 2026 World Baseball Classic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>TOKYO.\u2013<\/strong> The Japanese national team officially announced its roster for the <strong>2026 World Baseball Classic<\/strong>, led by superstars <strong>Shohei Ohtani<\/strong> and <strong>Yoshinobu Yamamoto<\/strong>, in a historic call-up that includes <strong>eight Major League players<\/strong>, the largest number recorded by the Japanese team in this tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n<strong>You may be interested in<\/strong>:<a href=\"https:\/\/ab.deultimominuto.net\/deportes\/beisbol\/fedom-desmiente-rumores-sobre-jose-ramirez-y-confirma-su-presencia-en-el-clasico-mundial\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">FEDOM denies rumors about Jos\u00e9 Ram\u00edrez and confirms his presence in the World Baseball Classic<\/a>\n\nManager <strong>Hirokazu Ibata<\/strong> announced the list this Monday, highlighting the mix of international talent and local experience with which Japan will seek to <strong>defend the title won in 2023<\/strong>. In addition to Ohtani and Yamamoto, both key figures in that consecration, the squad includes <strong>Munetaka Murakami<\/strong>, <strong>Kazuma Okamoto<\/strong> and <strong>Seiya Suzuki<\/strong>, who was unable to participate in the last edition due to injury.\n\nThere is still one spot to be defined, which will be announced once the final roster is officially completed.\n\nAmong the most notable absences are <strong>Roki Sasaki<\/strong>, who is coming off a season marked by physical problems despite his impact in the postseason with the Dodgers, and <strong>Lars Nootbaar<\/strong>, who underwent surgery on both heels during the offseason.\n\nThe Japanese team will have <strong>15 players who were part of the 2023 champion squad<\/strong>, which provides a solid base of continuity, depth and international experience.\n\n&#8220;Representing Japan again is an honor and a great responsibility. I have worked intensely to arrive in the best possible condition and, together with my teammates and the coaching staff, we will fight for the highest goals,&#8221; Yamamoto expressed in an official statement.\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Preparation and Calendar<\/h3>\n\n\nThe players in the Japanese league will hold a training camp in <strong>Miyazaki from February 14 to 24<\/strong>, before playing the <strong>Japan Samurai Series<\/strong>, which will begin on February 27. Major League players will join the group starting with the exhibition games scheduled for <strong>March 2 in Osaka<\/strong>.\n\nJapan, three-time World Baseball Classic champion (2006, 2009 and 2023), will be in <strong>Group C<\/strong>, along with <strong>Australia, South Korea, Czech Republic and Chinese Taipei<\/strong>, and will debut on <strong>March 6 against Chinese Taipei<\/strong> at the <strong>Tokyo Dome<\/strong>.\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>TOKYO.\u2013 The Japanese national team officially announced its roster for the 2026 World Baseball Classic, led by superstars Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, in a historic call-up that includes eight Major League players, the largest number recorded by the Japanese team in this tournament. You may be interested in:FEDOM denies rumors about Jos\u00e9 Ram\u00edrez and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[35481],"tags":[611,40231,40813,40853,40230],"class_list":["post-498595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-baseball","tag-deultimominuto","tag-dominican-republic","tag-major-leagues","tag-thetruthnewspaper","tag-united-states"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/phj1q1-25HR","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","dum_api":{"author_name":"Redacci\u00f3n De \u00daltimo Minuto","author_image":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/cropped-logo-de-ultimo-minuto-96x96.png","categories_name":["Baseball"],"featured_media_url":null},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=498595"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498595\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=498595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=498595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=498595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}