New York Yankees six-time All-Star and two-time MVP Aaron Judge will be the captain of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for 2026.
He will be making his WBC debut and taking over for 2023 USA captain Mike Trout. Judge made the decision not to play in 2023, as his priorities were focused on the New York Yankees following a sweep at the hands of the Astros during the 2022 ALCS. Notably, he was named captain of the Yankees in December of 2022.
But now, his time to shine on the global stage has come, and he will get the opportunity to represent his country.
ALL RISE.
— USA Baseball (@USABaseball) April 14, 2025
Aaron Judge will play #ForGlory🇺🇸 in the 2026 World Baseball Classic! pic.twitter.com/C4HM9foyjl
Aaron Judge named captain for USA's World Baseball Classic team in 2026
Judge is the first player to be named to the US roster, and he's well deserving of the honor. Judge will be turning 33 on April 26th, and this qualifies as an early birthday present.
He's been off to a hot start with the Bronx Bombers this season, smashing six home runs, 20 hits, and a .357 batting average through 15 games.
Hopefully, Judge will have better luck than Mike Trout, who struck out in the ninth inning of the WBC against Shohei Ohtani as Japan secured a 3-2 victory, winning the 2023 WBC. Japan has been stellar on this stage, also winning the international baseball tournament in 2006 and 2009.
"I wanted to be there... I was looking forward to this opportunity again."
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) April 14, 2025
Aaron Judge announces he will be playing for Team USA in the 2026 World Baseball Classic 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/dPAUza9yyC
Now Judge will get his chance to help team USA redeem themselves in 2026. Judge is one of the most powerful hitters in the game who owns a career 321 home runs and an OPS of 1.014.
Judge is also a four-time Silver Slugger and won the Roberto Clemente Award in 2023. Entering his 10th season with the Yankees, the outfielder has cemented himself as arguably the best hitter in baseball. 2022 was a big season for Judge, where he and the Yankees agreed to a nine-year, $360,000,000 deal. So it's understandable why he chose not to play for the WBC in 2023.
He's one of the tallest players in MLB at six-foot-seven, and weighs 282 pounds, making him a dominant force. Following in LeBron James' footsteps — when the NBA star led the USA to the 2024 Olympic Gold Medal in basketball and cemented himself as "Captain LeMerica" — perhaps Judge will earn his own title that pays homage to Marvel superhero "Captain America."
The last time Team USA won the WBC was in 2017, when they defeated Puerto Rico. Yankees pitcher Marcus Stroman was the MVP of that event; it wouldn't be shocking for Judge to earn the same award in 2026.