The World Baseball Classic provides a unique opportunity for MLB teams to play exhibition contests against national teams as they prepare for the tournament.

Team USA will play back-to-back games against the San Francisco Giants and Colorado Rockies as they get set to open Pool Play in Houston on Friday night.

Brazil, the Americans' first opponent in the 2026 World Baseball Classic, will have a familiar exhibition opponent in one of their WBC ramp-up games.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Texas Rangers will welcome the Brazilians to Surprise Staduim for an exhibition contest.

Despite just being an interesting showdown for Texas, there will also be some interesting milestones hit in Rangers camp.

Jacob deGrom will take the mound for the first time in a Spring Training game as he prepares for the 2026 season.

Last year, deGrom exceeded expectations in his first year back from his second Tommy John surgery as he made 30 starts with an ERA of 2.97, earning his first All-Star bid as a Ranger.

There’s no doubt that if the Rangers want to reach their full potential in 2026, then it’ll be with deGrom and fellow star pitcher Nathan Eovaldi leading the way in a stacked starting rotation.

Even with all of the excitement for deGrom on the mound, he won’t be the only Ranger making his Spring debut against the Brazilian side.

Brandon Nimmo is scheduled to make his first appearance in a Rangers uniform in the game as well.

Nimmo is getting a later start to playing in Spring Training games due to a personal preference of ramping up a little bit later before getting ready for the season.

Back in November, the Rangers acquired Nimmo in a trade with the New York Mets that sent World Series hero Marcus Semien to Queens.

The Rangers are hoping that Nimmo can be the face of a movement that sees their offense as a whole move to a more contact-centered, at-bat grinding approach.

Although we won’t see deGrom go deep in the ballgame or Nimmo play the full nine innings, Wednesday will still be a fun glimpse at what two key pieces to the Rangers' 2026 season will look like.

Additionally, for all the teams competing in the World Baseball Classic, these exhibition games allow them to get a look at what both their lineups and pitching are going to look like as they head for ultra-competitive showdowns.

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