Who To Watch In The WBC: Travis Bazzana Leads Australia Into Opener, Hyeseong Kim Anchors South Korea

The World Baseball Classic begins March 4 with Pool C in Tokyo. This pool has a dramatic time difference, which is why some teams will play what seems like two games on the same day (see the schedule below), when in fact they are on different days. Tokyo is 14 hours ahead of Eastern time (soon to be 13 with daylight saving time Sunday) and 17 hours ahead of Pacific.

Wednesday's game: Chinese Taipei vs. Australia, 10 p.m. ET (FS1)

Thursday's games: Czechia vs. South Korea, 5 a.m. ET (FS1), Australia vs. Czechia, 10 p.m. ET (FS1)

Travis Bazzana, Australia

The 23-year-old second baseman, who was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 draft by the Cleveland Guardians, makes his WBC debut as his country's top player. Bazzana only played in three Cactus League games this spring, going 2-for-8 with a homer. Ticketed to begin 2026 at Triple-A, where he finished with 26 games last year, Bazzana could be on track for a midseason promotion if he hits like he has done throughout his amateur career, including a .360/.497/.660 career slash line at Oregon State. An oblique injury interrupted his 2025, in which he played at three stops and had a put up a .245/.389/.424 slash line with nine homers, 39 RBIs, and 12 steals in 84 games. Australia advanced out of pool play for the first time in 2023.

Chieh Hsien Chen, Chinese Taipei

The 32-year-old outfielder and captain of Taiwan's team is playing in his second straight WBC. He represented his home country very well in the 2023 tournament, putting together a .357/.438/.643 slash line in four games. He is a 10-year veteran of the Chinese Professional Baseball League, posting a .337/.413/.443 slash line all while playing for the Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions. There isn't much power in his game (career high of eight), but he does get on base. Chinese Taipei is coming off a surprising Premier12 championship in 2024, upsetting Japan in the gold-medal game, and will be looking to advance out of pool play for just the second time in six WBC trips.

Hyeseong Kim, South Korea

This is a big spring for the 27-year-old infielder-outfielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers. In his second season since coming over from the Korea Baseball Organization, Kim is one of a handful of MLB players on the roster and is looking to get a foothold with the Dodgers. He started last season at Triple-A before getting a May call-up, then dealt with bursitis in his left shoulder that landed him on the injured list. Kim only played in 71 games but had a nice .280/.314/.385 slash line with three homers and 17 RBIs in 170 plate appearances. Perhaps playing for his country will give Kim a springboard for the MLB season.

Whole Team, Czechia

While Czechia might rank at or near the bottom in terms of the talent brought to play in the WBC, there will not be a more fun team to watch. This roster is a bunch of guys with regular jobs who have elevated the country's status in the baseball world after winning its debut game in 2023, beating China 8-5. There are electrians and firefighters who led Czechia to a bronze medal, the country's first, at the 2025 European Baseball Championships.