This year's World Baseball Classic tournament has lived up to expectations. 

Pitching duels, close games, mercy rules...you name it. 

Of course, before the 20 eligible countries were set to begin pool play, roster announcements came in a flurry. 

Notably, Team USA's roster announcement was the most anticipated. 

With players from the MLB flying off the shelf to represent the United States, a bump came to a head on the pitching front. 

Minnesota Twins right-hander Joe Ryan was slated to join Team USA for his first hacks in WBC play. But the news of lower back inflammation put a halt to his participation.

Team USA officials scrambled to find a replacement and looked towards another fellow right-hander.

Los Angeles Dodgers starter Tyler Glasnow was considered as an option for Team USA's roster.

But it was Glasnow who told Team USA's officials early on that he preferred to stay with the Dodgers in camp than participate in the WBC, per the California Post's Jack Harris. 

According to what Glasnow told the Post, he wanted to stay in Arizona to build on what he accomplished last season. 

Glasnow had a major impact on the pitching side for the Dodgers en route to their back-to-back World Series title win. 

He began his 2025 campaign dealing with minor shoulder issues, but was able to have a productive second half of the season. 

From then on, Glasnow would be worth every cent of his five-year, $136.5 million contract that he signed in 2023. 

Glasnow tallied six playoff appearances and recorded an impressive 1.69 ERA across 21 1/3 innings pitched.

The Dodgers were 3-0 in his starts during the postseason, and the 6-foot-8 flamethrower also struck out 25 batters and notched one save. 

Glasnow told the Post that he felt that he had built a solid foundation heading into the winter after a successful October. 

Building on that foundation, Glasnow had been spending time with the long-time Dodgers pitching coaches, Mark Prior and Connor McGuiness.

Honing in on a few mechanical tweaks in his delivery ahead of the postseason proved to be the building blocks for his success. 

The tweaks not only worked, but Glasnow continues to improve as spring heads towards its close. 

More specifically, the swing and miss numbers have been going up in his short tenure this spring. 

All signs point to Glasnow having a productive 2026 and being a dynamite pitcher alongside Yohsinobu Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani. 

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