Eight Cubs players shine across five nations. Seiya Suzuki's power, Javier Assad's velocity, and Jameson Taillon's resurgence fuel their teams' World Baseball Classic success.
The Chicago Cubs have plenty of representation at this year’s World Baseball Classic.
Eight Cubs players are representing five different nations in this one-of-a-kind tournament. Cubs fans have been able to watch Pete Crow-Armstrong, Alex Bregman, Daniel Palencia, Javier Assad, Jameson Taillon, Seiya Suzuki, and Miguel Amaya.
However, the three Cubs players who have stood out so far in the World Baseball Classic are Suzuki, Assad, and Taillon. All three players have dominated in their team’s games over the past few days.
Suzuki is batting .333 with a 1.571 OPS across Japan’s three games. His best performance in the tournament came against Korea early on Saturday morning. The slugging outfielder launched two home runs en route to a four-RBI game.
Suzuki has definitely picked up right where he left off last year when he hit three postseason homers. He is already seeing the ball well and isn’t being overly aggressive at the plate. In Monday’s game against Australia, the 31-year-old drew three walks and totaled one RBI.
His strong World Baseball Classic numbers are a positive sign heading into the 2026 season. It’s also nice to see pitchers like Assad and Taillon get into a bit of a rhythm on the mound. Both pitchers have thrown the ball well in each of their starts.
Assad drew the start for Mexico against Great Britain on Friday, throwing 3 ⅔ shutout innings. He allowed just two hits, one walk, and punched out two batters in his first career start in the World Baseball Classic.
The right-hander was excellent in that start and showcased added velocity on the mound. He reached 96.3 mph on his four-seam fastball in the first inning while averaging 94.4 mph on that pitch throughout his 3 ⅔ innings of work.
That average fastball velocity is up 2.2 mph from his 2025 average fastball velocity (92.2 mph). That’s definitely a notable difference from a season ago. The velocity on his sinker, curveball, sweeper, and changeup are all up as well.
Someone’s velocity that isn’t up from last season, though, is Taillon. That has been at the forefront of some of his spring struggles so far. The right-hander allowed 13 earned runs across six innings pitched in his first three Spring Training starts.
Although Taillon’s velocity was still down in his World Baseball Classic start on Sunday, he was solid in his start against Panama. The veteran allowed one run on two hits with two walks and three strikeouts across 3 ⅔ innings.
That start should give Cubs fans more confidence in Taillon entering the season. He appears to have gotten back on track in that outing.