Dodgers' Yoshinobu Yamamoto Joins Shohei Ohtani on Japan's 2026 World Baseball Classic Roster

There will be plenty of Los Angeles Dodgers starpower on Japan's team for the 2026 World Baseball Classic.

ESPN's Alden Gonzalez reported Monday that pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto is joining his Dodgers teammate Shohei Ohtani on the roster after they helped lead Los Angeles to a World Series crown this past season.

While Ohtani and Yamamoto are the headliners, they are far from the only Major League Baseball representation on the roster for the reigning WBC champions.

Here is a look at all the MLB players on Japan's team:

• Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers
• Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Los Angeles Dodgers
• Yusei Kikuchi, Los Angeles Angels
• Seiya Suzuki, Chicago Cubs
• Yuki Matsui, San Diego Padres
• Munetaka Murakami, Chicago White Sox
• Kazuma Okamoto, Toronto Blue Jays
• Tomoyuki Sugano, free agent

While Yamamoto was also on the championship-winning roster in 2023, Gonzalez pointed out there was "uncertainty" about whether he would return given his overall workload during the 2025 campaign.

After throwing just 90 innings in 2024, he pitched 173.2 during the 2025 regular season for the Dodgers. He then threw 37.1 innings in the postseason, 17.2 of which came during the World Series victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.

Yamamoto played the role of Fall Classic hero by allowing one run in six innings during a Game 6 win and then returning to the mound the very next day to pitch the final 2.2 innings of Los Angeles' championship.

He didn't give up a run in Game 7 and took home World Series MVP as a result.

Turning in that performance on the sport's biggest stage made him an even bigger star, and he will once again be under the spotlight at the WBC as Japan looks to bring home another title after winning the event in 2006, 2009 and 2023.

This year's WBC starts on March 4 with the championship game scheduled for March 17.