Aaron Judge to captain USA at the World Baseball Classic 2026

Aaron Judge will be the USA National Team captain for the 2026 World Baseball Classic, Manager Mark DeRosa announced on MLB Network. Judge will be making his World Baseball Classic debut in the sixth edition of the tournament in March next year.

Born in 1992, Judge is in the third year of a nine-year deal with the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB) worth US$360 million.

Judge played baseball at Fresno State University. The Yankees selected him at No. 32 of the 2013 Draft. He made his MLB debut on August 13, 2016 and was the Rookie of the Year in 2017.

As of April 14, 2025, Judge has played his whole professional career with the Yankees, appearing in 1,008 games and collecting 1,046 hits and 321 home runs.

A six-time All-Star and a four-time Silver Slugger outfielder, Judge led the American League in home runs in 2017, 2022 and 2024. He led the league in runs batted in (RBIs) in 2022 and 2024.

His 62 home runs in 2022 made him the all-time leader in home runs in a single season among the Yankees hitters, ahead of Roger Maris (61 in 1961) and Babe Ruth (60 in 1927).

Babe Ruth (659) leads the Yankees for career home runs, ahead of Mickey Mantle (536), Lou Gehrig (493), Joe DiMaggio (361), Yogi Berra (358), and Alex Rodriguez (351).

USA will compete in the Houston, Texas (USA) Group from March 6 to 11, facing No. 18 Great Britain, No. 14 Italy, No. 4 Mexico, and No. 23 Brazil.

Tokyo, Japan, will host from March 5 to 10, No. 1 Japan, No. 11 Australia, No. 15 Czechia, No. 6 Korea, No. 2 Chinese Taipei.

San Juan, Puerto Rico, will see action from March 6 to 11 between No. 9 Puerto Rico, No. 22 Canada, No. 10 Cuba, No. 8 Panama, No. 13 Colombia.

The Miami, Florida (USA), Group is also scheduled from March 6 to 11 and includes No. 11 Dominican Republic, No. 19 Israel, No. 7 Netherlands, No. 3 Venezuela, No. 16 Nicaragua

The full schedules are available on the World Baseball Classic OFFICIAL WEBSITE.

Houston and Miami will host the quarterfinals on March 13 and 14, respectively. Miami will host the championship round. The semifinals are scheduled for March 15 and 16, and the World Championship Final will be played on Tuesday, March 17.