The World Baseball Classic has some lore behind it. The fact is that one former player of the New York Yankees could unretire after multiple All-Star appearances to play in the tournament.
According to Bruce Levine of 670 The Score, “GM of the WBC team Italy, Ned Colletti, said that he asked former Cub Anthony Rizzo to participate on team Italy this spring. Rizzo is still deciding.”
Rizzo’s last hit in the big leagues came back on October 28th, 2024 in Game 3 of the World Series. After that, the Yankees declined Rizzo’s option and not many teams popped up to claim the services of the player. It didn’t help that the first baseman posted .228/.301/.335 over the course of 375 plate appearances.
Rizzo has a history on WBC
The World Baseball Classic is a huge event and Italy is not one of the juggernauts. Countries like United States, Japan, South Korea, Chinese Taipei, Cuba, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Mexico or many others could serve as either candidates or potential dark horses. However, Italy doesn’t fall into that category. Still, Rizzo has managed to get some memories out of the Azzurri in previous WBCs.
For instance, a two-run double in the ninth gave Italy a win against Mexico on their tournament debut in the 2013 edition. Rizzo coming back would help Italy get a solid presence in first base and plenty of experience.
When is the 2026 World Baseball Classic taking place?
The sixth iteration of the WBC will feature 20 national baseball teams and it will be played in the cities of Miami, Houston, San Juan, and Tokyo. The last edition was back in 2023 and Japan won as Shohei Ohtani delivered a strikeout over Mike Trout of Team USA.
The 2026 World Baseball Classic will take place from March 5th until March 17th. The Americas have 11 teams (Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, United States, and Venezuela). Asia will have three teams representing the continent (Chinese Taipei, Japan, South Korea). Europe has five teams (Czechia, Great Britain, Israel, Italy, and Netherlands). Finally, Oceania has Australia as its lone representative.