Taiwan national baseball team manager Tseng Hao-jiu on Tuesday announced the updated roster for next month’s 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) qualifiers at the Taipei Dome.
The team previously confirmed that Chen Chieh-hsien, captain of Taiwan’s World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier12 championship team last year, would be returning.
On Tuesday, Tseng said that after a management meeting, they made minor adjustments to the roster.
Photo: CNA
Of the 19 pitchers on the list, 10 are based in Taiwan, while nine play abroad, he said, adding that the roster includes seven infielders and four outfielders, some of whom also play overseas.
Tseng also added another catcher, bringing the total number of catchers to four.
The roster is still subject to change, depending on the response from players and coaches, and the willingness of overseas teams to release players, he said.
The manager added that training for the qualifiers would start on Feb. 3 and that overseas players would gradually return to Taiwan to join practices.
Before the qualifiers, the national team would hold six or seven exhibition games, two of which would be open to the public, Tseng said.
Qualifiers for the 2026 World Baseball Classic start on Feb. 21 at the Taipei Dome with Pool A teams South Africa playing Nicaragua in the afternoon followed by Taiwan versus Spain in the evening. After six games in a round-robin format, the first-placed team would advance to the World Baseball Classic, while the second and third-placed teams would vie for a spot in a seventh game, to be held on Feb. 25.
In Tucson, Arizona, Pool B teams start their games on March 2, with China playing Germany and Brazil playing Colombia, with the final game to be held on March 6.
The group stage of the World Baseball Classic runs from March 6 to 11, with four pools of five teams each, including the yet-to-be-decided qualifiers.
Pool A (Puerto Rico, Cuba, Canada and Panama) are to play in San Juan, Puerto Rico, while Houston, Texas, would host Pool B (the US, Mexico, Italy and the UK).
Pool C (Japan, Australia, South Korea and the Czech Republic) are to play in Tokyo, and Pool D (Venezuela, Dominican Republic, the Netherlands and Israel) start in Miami, Florida.
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