World Baseball Classic's pools in 2026 include a heavily Angels flavored battle royale

Including Francis Texido and Camden Minacci, a pair of Los Angeles Angels pitchers who find themselves in the Designated Pitcher Pool, 10 members of the Halos will suit up during the 2026 World Baseball Classic.

Though perhaps the most notable name is actually an omission — Mike Trout won't reprise his role as Team USA's captain due to insurance issues — that's still a healthy dose of Angels representation on the world stage. And a disproportionate amount of it will come in Pool B.

Half of the Angels' players headed to the WBC will be playing in Pool B, which features the United States, Mexico, Italy, Great Britain, and Brazil. Pitchers Minacci and Sam Aldegheri (Italy), reliever Samy Natera Jr. (Mexico), outfielder Lucas Ramirez (Brazil), and closer Najer Victor (Great Britain) will all square off during the round-robin period of the tournament.

Ironically, none of the Angels' representatives hail from the U.S., though each of the above quintet will see a healthy dose of major-league talent whenever they draw the reigning second-place finishers.

Angels players heavily featured in Pools A & B in 2026 World Baseball Classic

As a reminder to the program of the WBC: All five teams in each pool will play each other in a round-robin format to start. The top two teams from each pool after those initial four games will advance to the quarterfinals, leading to a single-elimination tournament until a winner is crowned. Team Japan (Pool C), which rosters Angels ace Yusei Kikuchi, is the reigning champion. He is the only member of the team participating in the WBC who will not be in either Pools A or B.

The other Angels who will be participating in the 2026 WBC are outfielder Gustavo Campero (Colombia, Pool A), outfielder Matthew Lugo (Puerto Rico, Pool A), infielder Yoán Moncada (Cuba, Pool A), and pitcher Francis Texido (Cuba, Pool A).

Though that set-up means a lot of Angels players will get a chance to play against each other early on in the tournament, it's also a guarantee that most will be eliminated before the quarterfinals. Among their respective pools, teams Puerto Rico and Canada (Pool A) and USA and Mexico (Pool B) are the favorites to advance beyond the round-robin stage. If that holds true, only Natera and Lugo would make it to the final eight.

At least Kikuchi and Japan look exceedingly likely to make it to the championship round again.