Taiwan updates World Baseball Classic qualifiers roster

Taipei, Jan. 14 (CNA) Taiwan national baseball team manager Tseng Hao-jiu (曾豪駒) on Tuesday announced the team's updated roster for the upcoming 2026 World Baseball Classic qualifiers in Taipei.

A previous statement from the management of Team Taiwan confirmed that Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲), the team's captain at the 2024 WBSC Premier12, will again be joining the club.

On Tuesday, Tseng announced that after a management meeting, minor adjustments had been made to Taiwan's roster.

He said that of the 19 pitchers on the list, 10 are based in Taiwan while nine play abroad.

The current roster includes seven infielders and four outfielders, some of whom are also playing outside of Taiwan.

Tseng also added another catcher, bringing the total number of catchers on the roster to four, he said.

Tseng explained that the roster is still subject to change depending on the response and willingness of overseas teams to release players.

The manager added that training for the qualifiers will start on Feb. 3 and that overseas players will gradually return to Taiwan to join team practices.

Before the qualifiers, which will take place on Feb. 21, there will be about six to seven practice matches, two of which will be open to the general public, Tseng said.

The 2026 World Baseball Classic qualifiers will be held between eight teams in a round-robin format from Feb. 21 to March 6.

The eight teams are divided into two pools. Taiwan will compete in Pool A against South Africa, Spain and Nicaragua.

All of the Pool A games will be played at the Taipei Dome.

The winners and runners-up of each tournament will subsequently qualify for the Classic and join the likes of Japan and the United States at the main tournament.