Team USA makes World Baseball Classic quarterfinals
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Retired Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw won’t last long in the 2026 World Baseball Classic. Team USA plans to replace Kershaw on its roster following Friday’s quarterfinal, manager Mark DeRosa announced Thursday.
But the WBC can’t fully deliver because it will never feature pitching at the highest level. Great baseball matchups usually revolve around who is on the mound. Many of the best pitchers aren’t participating and those that are, have been on pitch restrictions and workload limits.
Jack Hughes, who scored the golden goal vs. Canada in the Winter Olympics, sent "a nice little fire-up message" to Team USA ahead of its WBC quarterfinal vs. Canada.