Padres' underrated bullpen piece just grabbed a massive WBC 2026 spotlight

As if the World Baseball Classic was not exciting enough to watch, San Diego Padres fans have another team to potentially root for this year. The reigning world champions, Japan, has announced their roster for the 2026 tournament, which includes eight Major League Baseball players.

One of those players is Padres' left-handed reliever Yuki Matsui, who is one of four MLB pitchers on Japan's roster. This is an exceptional opportunity for Matsui to dominate and get good experience on the world stage. Considering he is part of one of the best bullpens in baseball, and he gets overshadowed most of the time, this is a superb chance for him to stand out if given the chance.

Padres' Yuki Matsui added to Japan's roster for the 2026 World Baseball Classic

Matsui returns to Japan's team after pitching in one scoreless inning for them in the 2023 WBC, which saw Japan defeat the United States in the championship. Matsui was teammates with Padres' veteran Yu Darvish, too.

Ideally, now that Matsui is more established as a pro pitcher, we will see him take the mound more often for Japan. Fans were worried about the 30-year-old halfway through the 2025 season after boasting a 4.76 ERA through July, but Matsui came back to life in the closing half of the year to prove his sophomore slump was a fluke. This also probably helped his case to get back on Japan's team.

He pitched to a 3.60 ERA in August, then ended the year on a great note with a 1.04 ERA in September. Playing in this competitive WBC environment will be beneficial for Matsui, too as he gets ready for a 2026 campaign with high hopes in San Diego. He did not pitch in the 2025 postseason, so throwing in the World Baseball Classic can help him get his mind ready for the playoffs this upcoming season (fingers crossed the Padres make the postseason again).

Though Matsui is not the marquee name for Team Japan in the 2026 WBC, playing alongside stars like Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto will be a great experience for him, as well as learning from veterans like Yusei Kikuchi. We wish him the best.