2026 Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) season

I normally start the NPB season thread in late March as Opening Day approaches. But with the World Baseball Classic taking place in early March I decided to post this thread now and include a focus on the preparations of Samurai Japan as the tournament draws near.

We begin with Monday's press conference where national team manager Hirokazu Ibata confirmed 29 players that will represent the country in the WBC..
The 30th and final player will be confirmed at a later date....

2026 Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) season