Cristopher Sanchez is making a strong case to represent the Dominican Republic in the 2026 World Baseball Classic.
The 28-year-old left-hander from La Romana, Dominican Republic, tossed six shutout innings for the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday night, allowing just one hit and striking out five in a 7-0 win over the Tampa Bay Rays at George Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Florida.
Sanchez threw 85 pitches, 47 for strikes, and walked three. He combined with Taijuan Walker on a two-hit shutout, as the Rays went 0-for-1 with runners in scoring position and stranded five.
If Sanchez continues to stay healthy and post quality starts throughout the 2025 season, he could make a case to join the Dominican Republic’s roster for the 2026 World Baseball Classic in Pool D at loanDepot Park in Miami, where they’ll face Venezuela, Nicaragua, Israel, and the Netherlands from March 6–11.
With Wednesday’s performance, Sanchez improved to 4-1 with a 2.89 ERA over seven starts. He has pitched 37.1 innings this season, allowing 32 hits, 12 earned runs, four home runs, 14 walks, and recording 44 strikeouts with a 1.23 WHIP. His elite changeup continued to dominate, including a called third strike on José Caballero and swinging whiffs from Chandler Simpson and Curtis Mead—part of a growing highlight reel captured in this Pitching Ninja clip.
All 22 of Cristopher Sanchez's record-setting Changeup Swings and Misses from yesterday. 😯 pic.twitter.com/09ElE15zbt
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 18, 2025
An All-Star in 2024, Sanchez went 11-9 with a 3.32 ERA over 31 starts, throwing two complete games, including a shutout. He pitched 181.2 innings and struck out 153 batters while allowing 182 hits and 67 earned runs.
Since debuting with the Phillies in 2021, Sanchez has made 79 appearances, including 60 starts. He owns a career record of 21-17 with a 3.61 ERA, two complete games, one shutout, and one save over 371 innings.
The Phillies (21-15) will close out their three-game road series against the Rays (16-20) at George Steinbrenner Field on Thursday night.
2026 WBC Preview
The 2026 World Baseball Classic will feature 20 nations, with the Dominican Republic competing in Pool D at loanDepot Park in Miami, alongside Venezuela, Nicaragua, Israel, and the Netherlands from March 6–11.
Japan leads all nations with three WBC titles (2006, 2009, 2023). The Dominican Republic won it all in 2013, and Team USA claimed the title in 2017. The event is sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation, MLB, MLBPA, and WBCI, and is staged during spring training.
The Federación Dominicana de Béisbol, under president Juan Núñez, manager Albert Pujols, and general manager Nelson Cruz, will evaluate potential offensive pieces for their 2026 roster throughout the remainder of the 2025 season. Players on their radar include Ketel Marte, Fernando Tatis Jr., Juan Soto, Geraldo Perdomo, Mark Vientos, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Jasson Domínguez, Rafael Devers, Elly De La Cruz, Jeremy Peña, Manny Machado, Willy Adames, Yainer Díaz, Oneil Cruz, Julio Rodríguez, Agustin Ramirez, José Ramírez, Austin Wells, and Gary Sánchez.
With several key returners likely to rejoin the pitching staff, the Dominican Republic could field a similar roster to 2023, while also adding notable newcomers.
Sandy Alcántara, Luis Castillo, Reynaldo López, Cristian Javier, Freddy Peralta, Luis Gil, Luis Severino, Framber Valdez, Eury Pérez, Brayan Bello, Wandy Peralta, Rafael Montero, Camilo Doval, Yimi García, Emmanuel Clase, José Soriano, Félix Bautista, Jhoan Durán, and Bryan Abreu are among the top candidates for the Dominican Republic’s pitching staff in the 2026 WBC.
Hall of Famers Adrián Beltré, David Ortiz, Vladimir Guerrero Sr., Juan Marichal, and Pedro Martínez are on the Dominican Republic operations staff, along with former MLB player Edwin Encarnación, assisting in building the national roster ahead of the opening game in Miami on March 6.
The 2026 WBC pool matchups and venue details are posted at MLB.com’s official WBC site, although game start times have not yet been announced.
2026 World Baseball Classic Information
The United States, Italy, Mexico, Great Britain and Brazil will compete at Daikin Park in Houston, Texas from March 6-11 in Pool B.
Puerto Rico, Cuba, Canada, Panama, and Colombia will compete in San Juan, Puerto Rico at Hiram Bithorn Stadium from March 6-11 in Pool A.
Japan, Australia, South Korea, Czech Republic, and Chinese Taipei will compete at the Tokyo Dome from March 5-10 in Pool C.
The Quarterfinals of the 2026 WBC will feature the Pool A runner-up facing the Pool B winner on March 13, while the Pool B runner-up will face the Pool A winner on March 14 at Daikin Park.
The other side of the Quarterfinals will be on March 13 with the Pool C runner-up playing the Pool D winner and the Pool D runner-up at loanDepot Park on March 14.
The 2026 WBC semifinals will be held on March 15 and 16 at loanDepot Park, with the championship game taking place on March 17.
The schedule for the 2026 @WBCBaseball is here! 👀 pic.twitter.com/B5MvUIrZK5
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) April 9, 2025
WBSC Rankings Outline
Japan is ranked at No. 1 in the World Baseball Rankings and will play in their sixth WBC. Chinese Taipei hails at No. 2. and will play in their sixth event. Venezuela at No. 3 and will appear for the sixth time at the WBC. Mexico is at No. 4 and will play in their sixth WBC. The United States is at No. 5 and will appear for the sixth time in the WBC. South Korea is labeled at No. 6 and will play in their sixth WBC.
The Netherlands at No. 7 will play in the WBC for the sixth time. Panama at No. 8 will play at the event for the fourth time. Puerto Rico crawling in at No. 9 will appear for the sixth time. Cuba is at No. 10 and will appear in the sixth WBC. The Dominican Republic at No. 11 will play in their sixth event. Australia pipelines at No. 12 and will play for the sixth time at the WBC.
Colombia at No. 13 and will appear in their third WBC. Italy is at No. 14 and will play in their sixth event The Czech Republic at No. 15 will appear in their second WBC. Nicaragua is ranked at No. 16 and will appear in the WBC for the second-time.
Great Britain at No. 18 will play for the second time at the WBC. Israel is ranked at No. 19 and will play in their third WBC. Canada is at No. 22 and will play in their sixth event. Brazil is ranked at No. 23 and will play in their second WBC.
In the 2023 WBC, Nicaragua, Great Britain, and the Czech Republic played in their first event. Israel and Colombia have played in three consecutive WBC events dating back to 2017. Brazil is appearing in the WBC for the first time since 2013. Panama has played in the WBC previously in 2006, 2009 and 2023, prior to 2026.
China will not be participating for the first time in the WBC since they did not qualify in the second qualifier in Tucson, Ariz., while going 0-3. They have been in the WBC since 2006, in the event’s first year.
The teams that are playing in the 2026 WBC and are part of the WBSC Americas sector are the United States, Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Nicaragua, Brazil, and the Dominican Republic. In the WBSC Europe sector, Italy, Israel, Great Britain, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands are participating in the 2026 event.
Japan, Chinese Taipei, and South Korea are in the WBSC Asia sector and Australia is in the WBSC Oceania sector.
All the other listed remaining countries have played in the WBC since its first year in 2006.
The WBC is sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation, the sports governing body alongside Major League Baseball, the Major League Baseball Players Association and the WBCI, that partner in organizing the event during spring training.
The 2026 WBC pool matchups for all games are slated on the official World Baseball Classic site with the confirmed dates, and no game start times have yet been announced.
If teams end up with the same record in pool play the Total Quality Balance run differential rule will be in effect for runs for and runs against alongside the head-to-head record.
2026 WBC Pool Matchups With Confirmed Dates
Pool A – Puerto Rico, Colombia, Panama, Canada & Cuba
Venue – Hiram Bithorn Stadium – San Juan, Puerto Rico
March 6
Game 1 – Cuba vs. Panama
Game 2 – Puerto Rico vs. Colombia
March 7
Game 3 – Colombia vs. Canada
Game 4 – Panama vs. Puerto Rico
March 8
Game 5 – Colombia vs. Cuba
Game 6 – Panama vs. Canada
March 9
Game 7 – Colombia vs. Panama
Game 8 – Cuba vs. Puerto Rico
March 10
Game 9 – Canada vs. Puerto Rico
March 11
Game 10 – Canada vs. Cuba
Pool B – United States, Mexico, Brazil, Great Britain & Italy
Venue – Daikin Park – Houston, Texas
March 6
Game 1 – Mexico vs. Great Britain
Game 2 – United States vs. Brazil
March 7
Game 3 – Brazil vs. Italy
Game 4 – Great Britain vs. United States
March 8
Game 5 – Great Britain vs. Italy
Game 6 – Brazil vs. Mexico
March 9
Game 7 – Brazil vs. Great Britain
Game 8 – Mexico vs. United States
March 10
Game 9 – Italy vs. United States
March 11
Game 10 – Italy vs. Mexico
Pool C – Japan, Chinese Taipei, Australia, South Korea & Czech Republic
Venue – Tokyo Dome – Tokyo, Japan
March 5
Game 1 – Chinese Taipei vs. Australia
Game 2 – Czechia vs. South Korea
March 6
Game 3 – Australia vs. Czechia
Game 4 – Japan vs. Chinese Taipei
March 7
Game 5 – Chinese Taipei vs. Czechia
Game 6 – South Korea vs. Japan
March 8
Game 7 – Chinese Taipei vs. South Korea
Game 8 – Australia vs. Japan
March 9
Game 9 – South Korea vs. Australia
March 10
Game 10 – Czechia vs. Japan
Pool D – Dominican Republic, Netherlands, Venezuela, Israel & Nicaragua
Venue – loanDepot Park – Miami, Fla.
March 6
Game 1 – Netherlands vs. Venezuela
Game 2 – Nicaragua vs. Dominican Republic
March 7
Game 3 – Nicaragua vs. Netherlands
Game 4 – Israel vs. Venezuela
March 8
Game 5 – Netherlands vs. Dominican Republic
Game 6 – Nicaragua vs. Israel
March 9
Game 7 – Dominican Republic vs. Israel
Game 8 – Venezuela vs. Nicaragua
March 10
Game 9 – Israel vs. Netherlands
March 11
Game 10 – Dominican Republic vs. Venezuela
