CLEARWATER, Fla. — Most pitchers are creatures of habit and rely heavily on their routines. But every four years, some of those routines change for major league pitchers participating in the World Baseball Classic.
The Phillies will send three members of their expected 2026 starting rotation to the tournament that starts on March 5: Cristopher Sánchez (Dominican Republic), Taijuan Walker (Mexico), and Aaron Nola (Italy).
Next month, instead of the relaxed atmosphere of Grapefruit League games, they could be pitching in situations with higher stakes.
“It’s just a different feeling,” said Walker, who also pitched for Mexico in 2023. “The pride for you playing for your country, and the crowd is just different. The atmosphere is different because you get both crowds, both countries’ fans, and they got the instruments going. It’s loud. They never sit down. It’s just constantly going.”
Mexico finished third in 2023 after being eliminated in the semifinals by Japan, which later defeated the U.S. in the championship game.
Walker said he didn’t adjust his offseason training too much in preparation for the WBC. He completed the same weighted ball program that helped him add a tick to his fastball last offseason.
The WBC’s limits on pitch counts for each round allow him to continue to ramp up at a fairly normal pace. Pitchers are limited to 65 pitches in the first round, 80 in the quarterfinal, and 95 in the championship rounds, though they can exceed that to finish a plate appearance.
“You’re already maybe two or three spring training games into it when WBC games start,” Walker said. “The only [different] thing is intensity-wise.”
The high-stakes atmosphere of WBC games can make it difficult for pitchers to experiment in ways they might in a typical spring training, such as through introducing a new pitch. In bullpen sessions so far in camp, Walker has been working on his slider. But when he pitches for Mexico, he’ll be relying more on his best weapons, his splitter and cutter.
“If I’m working on a slider, I get to go throw 20 sliders and work on it. WBC games, we got to get outs,” he said.
Mexico and Italy are in Pool B, alongside the U.S., Great Britain, and Brazil. Their round-robin games will take place in Houston. The Dominican Republic is in Pool D with Venezuela, Netherlands, Israel, and Nicaragua, and will play in Miami.
Nola will be pitching in his first WBC next month, representing the country his great-grandparents are from. He started his offseason work in mid-November, about a month earlier than normal for him, to ease into his training.
“Just to kind of get the arm moving,” Nola said. “I know how fast spring training games come when you get here, we don’t have as much time as we used to, so it’s actually been kind of nice to kind of be a little bit more ready, bodywise over here.”
Nola also did long toss, which is not typically part of his offseason regimen.
He said he likely would have done that anyway, even if he wasn’t already committed to Italy. Nola was limited to 94⅓ innings in 2025 due to an ankle sprain and rib fracture, the fewest innings he’s thrown since the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season.
He decided toward the end of last season that he would commit to Italy, hoping to play with his brother. Nola pitched against Austin, a former professional catcher, who was with the Padres during the 2022 National League Championship Series against the Phillies.
Although Austin had to withdraw after accepting a role as bullpen coach for the Mariners, Aaron still wanted to play. He has never been to Italy, but is looking forward to teaming up with former Phillie Michael Lorenzen and current prospect Dante Nori, as well as the other new faces who play in the Italian Baseball League.
“I wanted to experience it before I was done with baseball,” he said. “And every guy in here that has played in the past has loved it, said it’s a great experience. It’s gonna be fun to represent for Italy.”
Of course, injuries are always a concern for any player. But the Phillies are optimistic that participating in the Classic could give Nola a head start on what they hope is a bounceback season.
“Nola, I think, is going to benefit from playing the WBC, just to get the blood flowing a little bit earlier,” said manager Rob Thomson. “Nola’s always going to be ready; always going to work. But I think getting some competition is going to help him.”
Extra bases
The Phillies unveiled a new video board at Baycare Ballpark on Thursday. Its display of 3,200 square feet makes it the largest at any spring training ballpark. … Zack Wheeler (thoracic outlet decompression surgery) is scheduled to throw out to a distance of 120 feet again on Friday and will start spinning the ball. “We don’t have a date for bullpen yet, but he’s doing very well,” Thomson said.
