Paul Skenes is still Paul Skenes, but the Pittsburgh Pirates superstar right-hander is having a down year by his standards. What’s the core reason for Skenes’ 2026 performance? Well, the 2025 National League Cy Young Award winner thinks the 2026 World Baseball Classic “definitely affected the year” and “was kind of the root” of his…
Cal Raleigh’s 2025 was historic, on a number of levels. His 60 home runs were tied for the ninth-most in MLB history as well as the third-most for an American League player. He set new all-time single-season marks for home runs by a switch-hitter and by a catcher, easily outpacing Mickey Mantle’s prior mark of…
Fomer Chicago White Sox shortstop Alexei Ramirez tested positive for four anabolic steroids at the World Baseball Classic in March, where he set a record as its oldest ever player. The 44-year-old Cuban tested positive for “metabolites of mesterolone, metandienone, oxandrolone and stanozolol,” the International Testing Agency said Wednesday in announcing his provisional ban from…
Team USA received criticism throughout the 2026 World Baseball Classic, including some opining that they didn’t show enough emotion for their country (e.g., Venezuela‘s profound reaction to winning the tournament and the Dominican Republic‘s infectious enthusiasm from pool play through their eventual semifinal-round loss to the United States). San Francisco Giants star right-hander Logan Webb…
LoanDepot Park (Miami) – Hours after the Dominican Republic was eliminated by the United States, players walked out of the clubhouse blasting a high-energy Dominican Dembow song. Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr., Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Juan Soto strutted through the tunnel of the Miami Marlins stadium unable to mask their expressions of disappointment and…
We’re set for a World Baseball Classic final for the ages. USA vs. Venezuela. Two of the tournament favorites will play for it all on Tuesday in Miami. But before we get to that, let’s recap Monday’s semifinal action at the World Baseball Classic. Venezuela Into First Ever WBC Final In the end, the espresso…
New York Yankees star Aaron Judge has said that his No. 1 goal is to win a World Series, but he’s put that quest on a brief hold to captain Team USA at the World Baseball Classic. “Now that I got a USA jersey on and ‘USA’ across my chest, my main focus right now…
The World Baseball Classic Final had it all. A pitcher’s duel. A game-tying home run. A clutch response. It all made for a historic night on FOX, with Tuesday night’s game drawing over 10.78 million viewers, making it the most-watched WBC telecast on any network in the history of the tournament. The viewership for Tuesday’s…
LoanDepot Park (Miami) – Team USA players stood on the top step of the dugout with their arms thrown over the railing in defeat. They were motionless as they watched a sea of Venezuelan players in royal blue jerseys dogpile on the field at the home of the Miami Marlins and celebrate their 3-2 win…
MLB fans who tuned into the World Baseball Classic were expecting big-time performances from superstars Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge and Juan Soto. They came away learning more about Venezuela’s title-winning squad and one espresso-loving Italy slugger. Ahead of the 2026 MLB season, some players have already boosted their profile by thriving on the worldwide stage….
