Team USA is getting another household name to represent the red, white and blue, with Philadelphia Phillies’ first baseman Bryce Harper announcing he is joining the roster for the 2026 World Baseball Classic.
Harper announced his plan to join Team USA Tuesday morning on his Instagram.
“Put the colors on my chest for the 1st time when I was 15. No other feeling like it. I’m excited to announce I will be representing Team USA this year in the WBC. Merica!,” the two-time NL MVP captioned his photo of him crossing home plate in a photoshopped Team USA jersey in his social media post.
As Harper mentioned, the first time he wore the Team USA jersey was back in 2008 and 2009 when he won gold medals with the 16U team and 18U teams.
The slugging first baseman joins current Phillies teammate Kyle Schwarber on Team USA, which has a strong balance of power and speed.
Here’s how Team USA, led by former Penn Quaker Mark DeRosa, stacks up currently:
Catchers: Cal Raleigh (SEA), Will Smith (LAD)
Infielders: Bryce Harper (PHI), Gunnar Henderson (BAL), Brice Turang (MIL), Bobby Witt Jr. (KC)
Outfielders: Corbin Carroll (ARZ), Pete Crow-Armstrong (CHC), Aaron Judge (NYY)
Designated Hitter: Kyle Schwarber (PHI)
Starting Pitchers: Matthew Boyd (CHC), Clay Holmes (NYM), Nolan McLean (NYM), Joe Ryan (MIN), Paul Skenes (PIT), Tarik Skubal (DET), Logan Webb (SF)
Relief Pitchers: David Bednar (NYY), Garrett Cleavinger (TB), Griffin Jax (TB), Mason Miller (SD), Garrett Whitlock (BOS)
Last season, Harper hit .261/.357.487 with an .844 OPS to go along with 27 home runs and 75 RBIs in 132 games for the Phillies. He missed a month of the season recovering from a wrist injury.
Harper becomes the sixth Phillie to represent a country in the upcoming WBC, joining Schwarber on Team USA. Alan Rangel (Mexico), Garrett Stubbs (Israel), Johan Rojas (Dominican Republic) and Edmundo Sosa (Panama) are the other Phillies who will participate in the tournament.
Team USA will start the global tournament in March in Houston with a group stage where they will take on Mexico, Great Britain, Italy and Brazil from March 6 to 11. The other site cities include Miami, Tokyo, and San Juan, Puerto Rico, while the semifinals and championship game will remain stateside in Miami.
The U.S. looks to win the World Baseball Classic for the first time since 2017 after losing to Shohei Ohtani and Team Japan in the 2023 Championship game, 3-2, when Ohtani struck out his then-teammate Mike Trout to end the game.
