After what has felt like forever, baseball season is finally back. There has been a lot of anticipation for the 2026 MLB season, with a potential lockout, but also some interest in who will defeat the back-to-back World Series champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers. One team in their division, the San Francisco Giants, recently finished up a series against the New York Yankees, with the Yankees sweeping the series 3-0.

With the World Baseball Classic coming to an end, and Venezuela taking the championship home, there were a lot of teams that stood out. We saw many underdogs and intense games throughout the tournament, where we thought we had a set-in-stone winner. There were games such as USA vs. Italy, where we thought USA would win easily, but it went the other way. One game in particular that turned a lot of heads was Venezuela versus Japan.

The World Baseball Classic is held every four years, with players representing their countries competing for the championship. In 2023, the World Baseball Classic champions were Team Japan, who defeated Team USA 3-2 in the final. Team Puerto Rico is a country that also has a lot of great players. They were definitely a contender after the group stages and had a strong run in the tournament.