June 26 (UPI) -- Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. will join Aaron Judge and Paul Skenes on the Team USA roster at the 2026 World Baseball Classic, USA Baseball announced Thursday.
Team USA manager Mark DeRosa said Thursday on MLB Network that Witt, who was a bench player at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, will take a starting role a the 2026 edition of the tournament, which will launch March 5.
"It's an honor," Witt said. "It's something I kinda dreamed about my whole entire life. Just being a part of that team a couple years ago was amazing. Now, we want to bring home the gold."
Witt went 1 for 2 in his reserve role at the last world series classic. He pinch ran in finale, which the Americans lost 3-2 to Shohei Ohtani and Japan on March 21, 2023 in Miami.
"It was really special," Witt said. "And now, just being able to kind of settle in and be a part of it is going to be very special."
Witt collected an MLB-best 211 hits and hit a league-best .332 with 32 home runs and 109 RBIs over 161 games last season, when he finished second in the American League MVP race, behind Judge. He hit .282 with 10 home runs, a league-high 27 doubles and 40 RBIs through his first 80 games this season.
DeRosa announced April 14 that Judge would make his Team USA debut and serve as captain at the World Baseball Classic. Skenes' commitment to the roster was announced about a month later.
