The World Baseball Classic, one of the major events in international baseball, is set to begin its sixth edition next month. The tournament will start on March 5 at the Tokyo Dome with a match between Chinese Taipei and Australia. Additional games will take place at venues including Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico; Daikin Park in Houston; and loanDepot park in Miami, starting March 6.
Rosters for all 20 participating teams will be announced during MLB Network’s Roster Reveal show on Thursday night at 7 p.m. ET. Each team’s complete 30-man roster will be released at that time.
Tickets for single games are now available for purchase. Fans can find more information about ticketing on the official event website.
In the United States, FOX Media platforms—including FOX, FS1, FS2, the FOX Sports App, FOX One, and Tubi—will broadcast and stream tournament games. In Japan, Japanese-language broadcasts will be available on Netflix. More details about global broadcasting options are expected soon.
The competition features four pools (Tokyo, San Juan, Houston, Miami), each with five teams playing round-robin matches. The top two teams from each pool advance to the quarterfinals. Quarterfinal winners move to Miami for semifinals and the championship game scheduled for March 17.
Teams qualified through their performance in previous tournaments: the top four finishers from each pool in 2023 automatically secured spots for this year’s event. Last-place teams had to re-qualify through tournaments held earlier this year.
A number of high-profile players have committed to participate if healthy, including Shohei Ohtani (2023 MVP), Salvador Perez representing Venezuela, a strong Dominican Republic lineup featuring Major League talent, and a U.S. squad seeking improvement after finishing second in 2023.
For the first time in World Baseball Classic history, a pitch clock following Major League rules will be used: pitchers get 15 seconds with bases empty and 18 seconds with runners on base; batters must be ready with eight seconds remaining on the clock. However, there will not be an Automatic Ball-Strike System (ABS) during this tournament.
Pitcher use limitations remain strict: maximum pitch counts per round range from 65 pitches in early rounds up to 95 pitches in later rounds. Rest requirements depend on usage—pitchers throwing over certain thresholds must rest before pitching again.
Mercy rules apply during First Round and Quarterfinals: games end if a team leads by ten or more runs after seven innings or fifteen runs after five innings.
Tiebreaker procedures remain important as seen during past tournaments when multiple teams finished with identical records within their pool groups.
Looking ahead to future tournaments, top-four finishers from each pool automatically qualify while last-place teams must re-enter qualification rounds for subsequent events.
Fans can access ongoing updates via WorldBaseballClassic.com or follow @wbcbaseball across social media platforms X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and Facebook.
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For further information about local MLB organizations such as the Philadelphia Phillies—including their executive leadership structure—visit their official website.
