New York Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr., who is serving as Great Britain’s co-captain in the World Baseball Classic, believes strongly in his team’s chances to do well at the tournament.
Great Britain is entering the WBC with some momentum after beating the Milwaukee Brewers 7-3 in an exhibition game on Tuesday.
Twenty teams are in the WBC field, and they are broken up into four pools of five teams apiece. Round-robin play has already begun with each team playing the other countries in their pool. The top two teams in each pool will advance to an eight-team knockout tournament to determine the champion.
Great Britain is in a tough Pool C featuring the United States, which is the favorite to win the entire tournament at -110, per Action Network. Mexico, which is sixth on the odds ledger at 22-1, is also in the group.
So it may be tough for Great Britain to advance out of Pool C, which also features Italy and Brazil.
Great Britain does feature some current and former major leaguers, though, led by Chisholm, a 2025 All-Star who had 31 home runs and 31 stolen bases for the Yankees last season. Boston Red Sox outfielder Nate Eaton hit .296 in 41 games last year. Former big leaguers include outfielder Trayce Thompson and pitcher Vance Worley.
Catcher Harry Ford, the No. 71 overall prospect in MLB.com, is also on the team. Ford participated in the 2023 WBC for Great Britain, and he notably excelled with Triple A-Tacoma last year with 16 homers and an .868 OPS in 97 games.
Overall, it may be a tough task for Great Britain to shock the world, but their performance Tuesday certainly provides encouragement. Chisholm also has the requisite confidence and leadership for Team GB to advance out of the group.
The squad begins pool play on Friday when Great Britain plays Mexico at 1 p.m. ET.