Good evening, TJC subs. It’s Bryce here to welcome you to the 2026 baseball season. This year, we will start our betting action in the World Baseball Classic with three plays for a total of four units.

USA/Japan/Dominican Republic to win their Pools x 1u

To get our feet wet, we will parlay the favourites in Pool B, C and D to achieve a nice value number of 2.10x.

We know the USA is loading up their pitching staff for Pool play, headlined by Paul Skenes and Tarik Skubal. Pair that with a lineup straight out of a video game and they should be able to breeze past Italy and Mexico.

Japan will host their Pool and will be challenged by Chinese Taipei, Korea and surprise 2023 WBC darling Australia. We expect the experience and raw talent of Japan to separate itself from this group.

The Dominican Republic might pose the biggest threat to this bet with Venezuela in their Pool. A reminder, two teams will advance from each pool and we will need the DR to beat Venezuela. These odds for that roster is a no-brainer for us.

Japan or the Dominican Republic to win the WBC x 1.5u each

Okay, I love the United States roster as much as the next guy, but the odds for the 2026 WBC’s champion seem a bit skewed to me. The USA is paying 1.90x with Japan at 4.50x and the DR at 5.25x. While I agree the USA should be the favourites entering the tournament, those two values are too high for us to pass up.

The defending champion Japan, will again bring a star-studded lineup that features a plethora of big leaguers that include Shohei Ohtani, Seiya Suzuki, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Kazuma Okamoto, Munetaka Murakami and Yusei Kikuchi.

This team is as tight and fundamentally sound as any you will see, and that often leads to their international success with WBC championships in 2006, 2009 and 2023. We love the line of getting them at x4.50.

The Dominican Republic, on the other hand, may have some kinks to work out in their starting rotation, but if Cristopher Sanchez or Sandy Alcantara get hot, the sky is the limit for this lineup that features Vladdy Guerrero Jr, Fernando Tatis Jr, Juan Soto, Manny Machado and Ketel Marte, to name a few.

The bullpen for the DR is also a strong suit, but the one thing we are hanging our hat on for these bets is the USA stating that if they make the championship game, Mets rookie Nolan McLean will get the ball. A big spot for a rookie, especially if he has to face one of these lineups.

Appreciate you folks subscribing and look forward to releasing MLB content all season.