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The winter months have reached a pinnacle stage. The final moves of the offseason are trickling in<\/a> and teams are gearing up for the start of spring training in two weeks time.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n But 2026 is a bit different than normal years. While teams are preparing for the upcoming regular season, the global baseball scene will be congregating for the World Baseball Classic from March 5-17.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Royals have already had several names commit to participating in the tournament<\/a> for their respective nations, but after every roster was finalized on Thursday<\/a>, one surprise name snuck their way into the mix.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n When Team USA announced their final roster for next month’s showcase<\/a>, it was revealed that veteran starter Michael Wacha was included in manager Mark DeRosa’s squad.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Now presenting: Team USA \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 pic.twitter.com\/WhjqcoQffJ<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 USA Baseball (@USABaseball) February 6, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Now, stating that Wacha’s inclusion was surprising is by no means meant to be a slight on him as a ballplayer, as he’s been one of the more consistent and valuable arms in the Royals rotation and in baseball in general for several years now.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The surprise comes form the fact that there’s just so many immensely talented American pitchers that many likely would’ve projected ahead of a mid-3.00s ERA name like Wacha.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n But Wacha is coming off a respectable and reliable workhorse season in which he threw 172.2 innings across 31 starts to a 3.86 ERA. This marked the fourth straight season where he’s posted a sub-4.00 ERA and second in which he tossed 160.0+ innings and sported an fWAR greater than 3.0.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n And if we’re talking about forming a traditional five-man rotation on this roster, Wacha does have a strong argument to take up that fifth and final spot in the staff behind Paul Skenes, Tarik Skubal, Logan Webb and Joe Ryan.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Even if he doesn’t though, given it’s earlier in the spring an pitchers likely aren’t fully stretched out to handle a full regular season workload, finding extended innings out of the bullpen could be key, making the United States’ starting pitching surplus all the more important.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This will be Wacha’s second time donning the red, white and blue, but it’s his first since 2011, when he participated for them as part of the Collegiate National Team.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Wacha is now the second Royal on this U.S. squad, joining his superstar teammate Bobby Witt Jr., who made his commitment back in the summer<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n
Royals’ Michael Wacha cracks Team USA’s roster for upcoming World Baseball Classic<\/h2>\n