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Red Sox $170 Million Ace Predicted To Join Yankees’ Aaron Judge at 2026 WBC

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Conor Liguori | Last updated Apr 18, 2025 8:00 AM ET

On Monday, Team USA manager Mark DeRosa announced that New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge will captain the players representing the stars and stripes next March at the 2026 World Baseball Classic.

Next year's WBC will be Judge's first time competing in the international tournament.

Additional players will commit their services to Team USA in the coming months. On Wednesday, Bleacher Report's Zachary D. Rymer released his roster predictions for the United States' team for the 2026 WBC.

Included in the starting rotation was Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Garrett Crochet, who emerged as one of the best starters in MLB after transitioning from the bullpen in 2024 with the Chicago White Sox.

Crochet is off to a tremendous start with the Red Sox in his first season with the club, owning the fifth-best ERA in MLB at 1.38. The 25-year-old is averaging 9.7 strikeouts per nine innings and struck out 11 with only one hit allowed in his 7.1 innings start on Sunday against the White Sox.

Crochet would be a deadly weapon in the WBC because most of the batters he would face are not likely to have previous at-bats against him. The countries with the most MLB talent on their rosters usually consist of the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Mexico, and Puerto Rico.

The 2024 All-Star would be just one of the deadly arms DeRosa could have available to him.

Rymer added Tarik Skubal of the Detroit Tigers, Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates, and Hunter Greene of the Cincinnati Reds to the names he predicts will join Crochet in Team USA's starting rotation.

Team USA seeks its first WBC championship since 2017. Shohei Ohtani and Samurai Japan defeated Mike Trout and the United States 3-2 in the 2023 title game.

Team USA will compete in Pool B of the 2026 WBC alongside Italy, Mexico, Great Britain, and Brazil.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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