The 2026 World Baseball Classic is shaping up to be an event with several potential Hall of Famers. Team USA has signed up some exciting first-time performers, including Aaron Judge and Bryce Harper. The tournament will also feature Clayton Kershaw, who will be making his first WBC appearance.
Judge Seeks Inner Circle Status
Aaron Judge joins Pat McAfee to explain how Team USA is looking to carry the momentum from Olympic hockey into the World Baseball Classic. The question surrounding Judge isn’t whether he is a Hall of Famer, but if he can climb into the inner circle of Hall of Famers. It will be difficult for Judge’s career counting stats to measure up to some of those legends because he started late and had some injuries early in his career. He’s accumulating value at a high rate, however, and is one of just 23 position players with at least four 8-WAR seasons.
If he can compile two more such seasons — and he has produced seasons of 10.8, 10.8 and 9.7 since 2022 — then he would be one of just 15 position players with six 8-WAR seasons and just the sixth to do it whose career started after World War II.
Ohtani’s Focus and Kershaw’s Finale
Shohei Ohtani is also slated to participate. Ohtani is an easy lock for the Hall of Fame, with four MVP Awards and counting. He won’t pitch for Japan in this WBC, instead focusing on a full slate of pitching.
Clayton Kershaw, retired from the Los Angeles Dodgers, will cap his career with his first WBC appearance. He might be there to soak up the atmosphere as much as anything and is unlikely to pitch any critical innings later in the tournament, but let’s hope he gets some action in pool play.
Absences From Previous Tournaments
Some Hall of Fame candidates who played in previous tournaments will not be participating in the 2026 WBC. Freddie Freeman, who has played for Canada in the past, is sitting this one out. Francisco Lindor and Carlos Correa were unable to obtain injury insurance, with Lindor later injuring a hamate bone anyway, leaving Puerto Rico without two key players.
Two highlights stand out from the 2023 World Baseball Classic, both involving Shohei Ohtani. In one of the most surreal baseball moments in recent years, a 5-foot-9 electrician from Czechia named Ondřej Satoria, with a fastball that topped out at 79 mph, fanned the mighty Ohtani on three pitches, inducing the strikeout with a wild swing on a 72 mph changeup.
The other memorable moment was Ohtani striking out his then-Los Angeles Angels teammate Mike Trout for the final out of Japan’s 3-2 victory over the United States in the championship game, two future Hall of Famers in the ultimate showdown.