The 2026 World Baseball Classic is set to begin on March 4, lasting all the way until a champion is crowned on March 17. The group stage will take place in Japan, Puerto Rico, Miami, and Houston.
It will be interesting to see if Japan can repeat as champions after knocking off USA the last time around. Japan has the most WBC titles, with three, while USA and the Dominican Republic each have one.
On this page, we’ll dive into the 2026 World Baseball Classic betting odds, providing one pick, two contenders, and one sleeper.
2026 World Baseball Classic Winner Betting Odds
Baseball odds for the World Baseball Classic are current as of March 2, 2026, and courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.
- USA (-110)
- Japan (+330)
- Dominican Republic (+450)
- Venezuela (+900)
- Puerto Rico (+1800)
- Mexico (+2200)
- Canada (+5000)
- South Korea (+6500)
- Italy (+8000)
- Cuba (+8000)
- Colombia (+8000)
- Panama (+10000)
- Netherlands (+10000)
- Chinese Taipei (+20000)
- Israel (+25000)
- Great Britain (+25000)
- Australia (+25000)
- Czechia (+40000)
- Nicaragua (+40000)
- Brazil (+40000)
Who Will Win the 2026 World Baseball Classic?
Dominican Republic (+450)
The Dominican Republic will be trying to bounce back from a poor showing in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, where they failed to advance to the knockout round despite being favored to win a group that included Puerto Rico and Venezuela.
This team has an absolute murderer’s row on offense, including Juan Soto, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Fernando Tatis Jr., Julio Rodriguez, Ketel Marte, and Oneil Cruz. While the pitching isn’t as strong, they still have frontline starters in Cristopher Sanchez and Sandy Alcantara.
At (+450) odds, the Dominican Republic is completely undervalued. Look for them to avenge their first-round exit from the last WBC. Even if they just get to the finals, you have all types of hedging opportunities due to this terrific price. With that in mind, ride with the D.R. here.
2026 World Baseball Classic Contenders
USA (-110)
USA are heavy favorites in this tournament, which is no surprise considering their tough loss in the finals against Japan last time around. What bodes well for them is that the rotation is much better on paper, going from the likes of Miles Mikolas and Merrill Kelly to Tarik Skubal and Paul Skenes.
However, it’s worth noting that Skubal is only going to throw 55 pitches vs. Great Britain before returning to Tigers spring training. To that end, a major strength of the team is somewhat mitigated here. They’re not going to over-exert the pitching, so that strength is less pronounced.
While the offense is obviously stacked with Aaron Judge leading the way, the odds are a bit inflated at (-110). I don’t think that the gap beween USA and the Dominican Republic is as wide as the market believes. That makes them an avoid at this price.
Japan (+330)
The defending World Baseball Classic champions are still a formidable team, led by Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. However, we should acknowledge that Ohtani isn’t going to pitch this time around, so that’s a bit of a blow to Japan’s chances.
While the offense is great with Ohtani joined by Munetaka Murakami, Seiya Suzuki, and Kazuma Okamoto, the pitching is quite thin outside of Yamamoto. Other big-leaguers include Yusei Kikuchi and Tomoyuki Sugano.
Even with the odds a lot more appealing than USA at (+330), I see the Dominican Republic as the much better value when you consider how stacked they are on paper. The winner will highly likely be one of these three teams, but it’s a tall task for Japan to repeat as champions and win their fourth title.
2026 World Baseball Classic Sleeper Pick
Venezuela (+900)
Venezuela isn’t a traditional sleeper in that they’re fourth in odds, but at (+900), the price is long enough that they can deserve this label. If Venezuela won the tournament, it would be a shocking result, so I’m riding with them as my sleeper pick.
This is a team that has an excellent lineup, including Ronald Acuña Jr., Jackson Chourio, William Contreras, Maikel Garcia, Wilyer Abreu, Ezequiel Tovar, and Eugenio Suarez. While the pitching isn’t as good, they still have Ranger Suarez at the top.
There’s also an outside chance that Jesus Luzardo can be called up to pitch for Venezuela, as he’s currently on their reserve list. If the Phillies’ lefty joins the team, that could make them even more dangerous. At (+900) odds, this is a rock-solid value.
