Judge Or Raleigh? Skenes Or Skubal? Team USA's Best World Baseball Classic Lineup

There are good teams. There are great teams. And then there is the juggernaut that Team USA will be sending to the 2026 World Baseball Classic. Under manager Mark DeRosa, this is clear-cut the best roster that Team USA has ever compiled. That seemed to be a given when Aaron Judge, who is set to play in his first WBC, signed on to be the captain of the team. But it goes well beyond the reigning American League MVP. Twenty-two of the 30 players on USA’s roster have been MLB All-Stars, a total that, unsurprisingly, leads all teams in the tournament. (The Dominican Republic’s loaded roster ranks second with 16 former MLB All-Stars, followed by Venezuela with 12.) Just based on MLB production, using 2025 WAR as a guide, USA has concocted the best roster of any team in WBC history. WBC Rosters: Team-By-Team Squads With newcomers in Judge, AL MVP runner-up Cal Raleigh, two-time MVP Bryce Harper, two-time All-Star and 2023 Rookie of the Year Corbin Carroll, two-time All-Star Byron Buxton — joining 2023 holdovers such as Bobby Witt Jr., Kyle Schwarber and Will Smith – the USA's lineup is even more stacked than it was three years ago. But it’s the pitching that really sets this team apart from previous star-studded groups. WBC Power Rankings: Stacking Japan, USA and All 20 Squads Attracting frontline arms can be an issue ahead of a long MLB season, but not this year. USA recruited both Cy Young Award winners in Tarik Skubal and Paul Skenes to a rotation that also includes two-time All-Star Logan Webb, 2025 All-Stars Joe Ryan and Matthew Boyd and future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw, fresh off retirement. Keep in mind, WBC teams really only need four starters throughout the tournament. It’s an embarrassment of riches — and that’s before getting to the power arms at the back end of a bullpen that includes Mason Miller, David Bednar and Griffin Jax. All of that should lead to a USA team more than capable of avenging a 2023 WBC finals loss and reclaiming international glory after winning the tournament in 2017. But it also means some tough decisions ahead for DeRosa when constructing a lineup and figuring out how to deploy the pitching staff. Of course, he’ll be able to mix and match from game to game depending on the competition, but what would the optimal lineup look like? Here’s one take: Lineup So, how would that look defensively? Outfield LF: Corbin Carroll CF: Byron BuxtonRF: Aaron Judge You could certainly make the case to get Pete Crow-Armstrong’s defense in center field — he  might end up platooning with Buxton — but I like the idea of having two strong defenders and potential base-stealers in PCA and Brice Turang off the bench to deploy as needed in the later innings. Judge is an obvious lock in right. Carroll had a 140 OPS+ in a 30-30 season in 2025. Buxton had a 137 OPS+ in 2024 and a nearly identical mark last year (136) in a 30-20 season and career year. Infield 1B: Bryce Harper 2B: Gunnar Henderson SS: Bobby Witt, Jr. 3B: Alex Bregman C: Cal Raleigh DH: Kyle Schwarber After missing the 2023 competition coming off Tommy John surgery, Harper, who played for Team USA’s 16U and 18U teams, will cherish this opportunity. Sure, it might look a little wacky putting Henderson at second base. He hasn’t played the position since he came up as a rookie in 2022, and it’s probably more likely that Turang gets most of the opportunities there when the games begin. DeRosa could platoon the right-handed Witt and the left-handed Henderson at shortstop or Bregman and Henderson at third. But if it’s about fielding the best lineup, it’s hard to argue against finding a way to keep Witt, Henderson and Bregman all in the lineup. Raleigh and Schwarber need little explanation after leading the AL and NL, respectively, in home runs last year. Smith will be able to give Raleigh a spell behind the plate throughout the tournament. Rotation LHP Tarik SkubalRHP Paul Skenes RHP Logan WebbRHP Joe Ryan Swingmen/other options LHP Matthew BoydRHP Nolan McLeanRHP Clay HolmesRHP Michael WachaLHP Clayton Kershaw There are far more options to start games than DeRosa will need — at the last tournament, USA used just four starters — so he’ll likely save Skubal and Skenes for the most important ones. It’ll be interesting to see which one gets the start in the final if USA makes it that far. There’s no wrong choice. Bullpen RHP Mason MillerRHP David Bednar RHP Griffin JaxRHP Brad KellerRHP Garrett Whitlock LHP Gabe SpeierLHP Garrett Cleavinger Everyone wants to watch Miller blow 103 mph four-seamers past amateur athletes to finish off games, right? My guess is he earns the majority of save opportunities, but Bednar is another strong option, and lefties Speier and Cleavinger give DeRosa answers for any lineup he faces. Not bad!