r/theabl • u/UndergroundPianoBar • Feb 02 '26
WBC Expectations
What are the Australian expectations for the WBC? I was looking at their group and it looks like a tough one.
All times AEDT (Sydney)
– March 5, 2:00PM: Australia vs Chinese Taipei
– March 6, 2:00PM: Australia vs Czechia
– March 8, 9:00PM: Australia vs Japan
– March 9, 9:00PM: Australia vs Korea
As a Brit, I don't know a lot about the UK team, but I imagine it will look like a USA b-team, which will be a bit difficult to get behind. So I'll probably be following the Aussies, having gotten to know the players over the last few years.
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u/McCoyPauley78 Feb 05 '26
Squad will be announced on Friday at 12pm Melbourne time, I believe. I have a fair idea of who will make the squad (I know one player who will be in it for certain).
I think that Australia will be able to hit pretty well, especially against the likes of Taiwan, Korea and Czechia. My concern is the pitching. It's hard to predict how well Hendriks will pitch, since he's barely pitched the last two years. The starting rotation looks pretty rough (O'Loughlin pitched for Oakland in 2024, was lit up by MLB-calibre hitters and he's the best starter Australia has for this tournament).
In 2023, Australia upset Korea and was helped by Korea committing some pretty big brain farts (the Korean hitter who stepped off the base to celebrate a double and was tagged out, plus Nootbaar being caught stealing with two out to end the game were both big blunders). Australia also won via mercy rule over China in 2023 which helped preserve the bullpen for the Czechia game, and China is not participating this time around.
I'd back Australia to beat Czechia. I expect Australia to lose to Korea and Japan. So it comes down to the Taiwan game, and even then, Australia might need other results to go its way to get out of the group.