February 22, 2026
Rhona Wise/Imagn Images
Kyle Schwarber makes his third appearance for Team USA this spring.
Spring training will be a little different this year. The Phillies have a remarkable 16 players appearing in the World Baseball Classic, with 10 of them are likely to be on the team's 26-man roster.
So while the non-Classic players will partake in a typical circuit around central Florida working to round into baseball-playing shape, a bevy of players will be playing in meaningful games, getting a crash course in competitiveness after nearly four months off.
One has to ponder, as the Phillies attempt to compete for a third straight NL East title and make a deeper playoff run than their two prior early exits, is this a good thing?
Strictly from a reps perspective, it most certainly is. There are more at bats and more innings to go around for the players still in Phillies regular camp. And the high pressure situations are great practice for October.
The rules of the event also protect pitchers, who are limited by pitch count in each round of the tournament.
Historically speaking, the WBC has actually had a positive effect on offensive production too.
A full scientific study of the exact ramifications of being actively on a World Baseball Classic roster and its impact on performance on the subsequent regular season has yet to be conducted, but an unscientific dive into some of the bigger names who played in 2023 does suggest there is a positive correlation.
We took a sample of 48 of some household names who participated in the last event and saw 31 of them post a higher WAR than their season average — including Phillies Trea Turner (4.9 WAR in 2023, career 3.6 WAR per season) and J.T. Realmuto (5.2 in 2023, 3.5 on average). Turner memorably led the entire WBC with five homers and had had the second most RBI with 11. Kyle Schwarber, however, saw a rough 2023 — his worst as a Phillie — and 0.7 WAR, lower than his 1.8 per season average.
There are a lot of success stories. Shohei Ohtani posted a 10.1 WAR in 2023 — his career average is 5.9. Mookie Betts, Kyle Tucker, Juan Soto, Rafael Devers, Ronald Acuña Jr., Freddie Freeman and Luis Robert Jr. are other big name stars who each saw their 2023 seasons produce substantially higher production than their usual above average performances.
It takes extra prep work, but clearly from the large number of noteworthy participants, players find it worth the effort.
“You have to prepare a little bit differently in spring training for that,” Turner told reporters after players arrived at spring training last week. “You’ve got to kind of get out there earlier, and get your at-bats earlier.”
While it's not any sort of guarantee the three everyday hitters and now five (after José Alvarado had to drop out) impact pitchers the Phillies are sending to the event will be better off for it, it certainly feels like a worthwhile endeavor.
“I think we’re in a good spot to win,” Turner said of the US team after not being selected for it again (h/t Inquirer.com). “I’ll definitely be watching it, and I wish Kyle and Bryce and all these guys, [Edmundo] Sosa, everyone playing, I hope they perform well for their countries, and it’s a lot of fun.”
A quick breakdown (*designates they're in the pitcher player pool, ^ designates they're a current minor leaguer):
United States
• Kyle Schwarber
• Bryce Harper
• Brad Keller
Dominican Republic
• Johan Rojas
• Cris Sánchez
Venezuela• José Alvarado (Recently ruled unable to play due to insurance issues — you can read about that here)
• Jesús Luzardo*
Mexico
• Taijuan Walker
• Alan Rangel*^
Italy
• Aaron Nola
• Dante Nori^
Israel
• Max Lazar^
• Garrett Stubbs^
Panama
• Edmundo Sosa
Brazil
• Gabriel Barbosa^
Australia
• Mitch Neunborn^
Netherlands
• Jaydenn Estanista^
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