Witt, 25, joins New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge and Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes as MLB players who have committed to play for Team USA.
Witt, an All-Star who was second to Judge in American League MVP voting last season, is hitting .285 with 10 home runs, 40 RBIs and an .822 OPS this season prior to Thursday's game. He led the majors with a .332 batting average in 2024.
Baseball has a world cup too!!
Why not a selection committee select players for international matches? Unlike Baseball Cricketers prefer to represent their nation instead of playing in the leagues.
World Baseball Classic is an amazing event. The US team will be packed with stars but Japan is always tough to beat.
MLB and MLBPA will not allow players to play in international matches other than WBC and Olympics. Too much money on the line. You don't want your 500M star getting hurt and ruining your season because he played in an international event.
But they make a couple exceptions to grow the game globally.
yeah, this is a valid point. Unlike Cricket leagues, MLB is a long season. It's opposite in Cricket where players skip these leagues for fear of injury if a major international tournament is on the horizen.
Many players will have restrictions in their contracts for the kind of stuff they can do outside of team activities.