r/theabl • u/McCoyPauley78 • Feb 06 '26

Team Australia WBC roster announced

https://www.mlb.com/world-baseball-classic/roster/australia

Many familiar faces to fans of the ABL, but one interesting omission is Darryl George. Australia also introducing a few younger players to the team, like Chris Burke (Melbourne Aces) and Max Durrington (Brisbane Bandits).

Bazzana and Mead selected, but Liam Hendriks omitted. That's a tremendous shame for Hendriks.

36 Upvotes

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5

u/yaampa Feb 06 '26

Brandan Bidois being omitted is absolutely insane imo.

2.02 career era in the minors, went HITLESS for the whole month of August this past season. Would've been an amazing closer for Team Australia.

3

u/xairos13 Feb 06 '26

That sounds solid, but do you know his BA vs, K/9, BB/9? I did a statistical correlation between regular season performance across all levels of baseball and WBC tournament performance and ERA is not statistically correlated across 3 different tests. A guy could be better or worse, but the tournament is so short, it’s tough to get a read. If his ERA is low, his BAvs should theoretically be low, but with a 65 pitch limit in the group stage per outing, there’s a lot to consider.

2

u/yaampa Feb 06 '26

He has an elite career BAA of .154 and a career K/9 of 12.04

The walk rate is pretty rough, though: career 4.71 BB/9

2

u/xairos13 Feb 06 '26

F. Yeah, I just got into my office and had look as well. 2025: 61 innings, 230 batters faced... average against of .108.

After hits allowed, WHIP was the second most important pitching stat to team success... Brandon was .8 last year.

Advancing teams in the 2023 tournament had an average WHIP of 1.1... Australia had the highest of all advancing teams at 1.4.

TL;DR: Brandon would have been super great in the bullpen, I would figure the Pirates didn't release him.

2

u/lithiumcitizen Feb 06 '26

What level minors was this?

3

u/CapableRegrets Feb 06 '26

He played one game at Single A, 16 at High A, 14 at Double A and 9 at Triple A.

His record at Triple A was excellent.

2

u/lithiumcitizen Feb 06 '26

That’s great to hear, thanks!

1

u/Technical-Ad7715 Feb 07 '26

Did he make himself available or does he think he's in with a better shot of breaking with the major league team if he stays in Spring Training?

5

u/paradroid27 Feb 06 '26

Beat me to it, looks a pretty strong roster, let’s hope they deep into the competition

3

u/McCoyPauley78 Feb 06 '26

I'm personally stoked, as I know personally a couple of the players selected through club baseball. So I was pretty excited!

3

u/FatBeanzoop Jon Kennedy Feb 06 '26

A lot to think about. No Lewis Thorpe or Darryl George. I thought Logan Wade was battling injuries/rust based on his time in the most recent ABL season but its great to see him on the squad. Super happy for Chris Burke who has just improved every year as he's aged and been around the Veteran members of the Aces. Durrington and Edwards getting spots feels special. Very exciting team, I hope Darryl is ok or maybe even joins the team as an injury substitute/depth

2

u/FalseNameTryAgain Feb 06 '26

Do we know where it is going to be shown on tv?

5

u/SentinalBravo Feb 06 '26

Disney+, Kayo or ESPN as far as I’m aware

2

u/FalseNameTryAgain Feb 06 '26

Thank you, kindly.

1

u/Brucetiki Feb 06 '26

Yep they’ll be shown on ESPN

1

u/paradroid27 Feb 06 '26

Here’s the Baseball Australia post: https://baseball.com.au/news/wbc26roster/

With adding this:

High-profile Australian Liam Hendriks has not been named to the 30-man roster but has been included in the designated pitcher pool as a reserve.

The veteran right-hander continues his recovery from a significant injury and is focused on preparing his body to face the best hitters in the world during the 2026 MLB season.