Padres’ Fernando Tatis Jr. makes a fearless call on Japan ahead of the WBC

With spring training games officially underway, it is time to shift focus to the next notable date coming to baseball, and that is the World Baseball Classic, which kicks off on March 5. The Padres have multiple players leaving the Cactus League early to participate, which occurs every four years.

Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado, Xander Bogaerts, Mason Miller, Wandy Peralta, Alek Jacob, Ron Marinaccio, and Yuki Matsui will all represent the Southern Californian team this upcoming month, and hopefully make a statement on why the Padres are a team to watch in 2026. 

Padres’ Fernando Tatis Jr. makes a daring WBC prediction that targets Japan

The field is stacked this time around, with teams such as the United States, Dominican Republic, and Japan headlining the field. One Padres star minced words about one of those teams, and it only adds fuel to the fire ahead of the highly coveted spectacle. Tatis had this to say to reporters earlier this week:

“They’re nasty, but we’re gonna beat them.”

Tatis Jr. will be representing the Dominican Republic this upcoming month. He will be competing against one of the biggest Padres killers in recent memory, and that is Shohei Ohtani.

Yes, those words from Tatis were targeted directly at team Japan, and we will likely backtrack on that quote.

The Dominican Republic faces off against Nicaragua for their first matchup of the WBC, then follows that up with group play against the Netherlands, Israel, and Venezuela.

Tatis has done an exceptional job of setting the stage ahead of the matchups set to be played in less than two weeks, and it is a matter of whether he and his squad can capitalize on it. At this point, you must, despite recognizing talent, he did write them off as a competitor.

March can’t get here soon enough, and it is safe to say that we can call this the opening ceremony for the 2026 season.