The new year is upon us! The 2026 MLB season is just a couple of months away, with Spring Training, college baseball, and World Baseball Classic getting us started before then.

If you want to prepare for the entire year of baseball ahead, we've got you covered. Stay tuned with everything we have going on at Just Baseball this year!

Roadmap for 2026

As we head into the new year, we want to preview everything coming up in the baseball world for you all. Compared to many others, this year will start with a bang in March and will only get better from there!

• February 10th-14th: Pitchers and Catchers Report

We’re just over a month away from the start of Spring Training! The snap of the glove, the crack of the bat, and we’re off.

• February 13th: Division I College Baseball Opening Day

The NCAA starts with every SEC team playing on Friday the 13th, and we will have an incredible range of coverage on college baseball.

Our team at On The Clock and the College Baseball Show is set to publish our first Top 25 in the coming weeks, as we look forward to an excellent season ahead.

• February 20th: First Spring Training Games

A real baseball game will be played in 43 days. Forget the hypothetical trades, rumors that never come to fruition, and no actual games.

MLB is back on this day. We cannot wait.

• March 6th-17th: World Baseball Classic

The sixth edition of the World Baseball Classic kicks off with pool play in Tokyo, San Juan (PR), Houston, and Miami. The quarterfinals will take place in Houston and Miami on March 13th and 14th, with the final three games from March 15th to 17th in Miami.

Japan has won three of the five World Baseball Classics, including the most recent one in 2023. However, Team USA and Team Dominican Republic are absolutely loading up with talent as they each try to win it for a second time.

Tarik Skubal and Paul Skenes form the nastiest rotation imaginable for Team USA, alongside the likes of Aaron Judge, Bobby Witt Jr., Bryce Harper, Cal Raleigh, and others confirmed for the offense. The Dominican Republic has uncertainty surrounding their pitching, but their lineup featuring Juan Soto, José Ramírez, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Fernando Tatis Jr., Ketel Marte, Julio Rodríguez, and more is terrifying.

• March 19th-22nd: Spring Breakout

The best prospects around the league will face off once again in the third edition of Spring Breakout. There will be 16 total games, eight in Arizona and eight in Florida, featuring nothing but top prospects from every organization.

Aram Leighton will be providing in-depth prospect analysis and interviews from this event in Florida!

• March 25th-26th: Opening Night and Traditional Opening Day

The Yankees and Giants will kick off the season under the lights in San Francisco on March 25th! The other 28 teams will play on traditional Opening Day the following day.

March 26th will be the earliest “traditional” Opening Day in MLB history!

• April 25th-26th: MLB World Tour in Mexico City

Major League Baseball’s World Tour continues this season with a trip south of the border. Following the Tokyo Series from last season, the Padres and Diamondbacks will face off in Mexico City.

The Astros and Rockies faced off two years ago in Mexico City, with Houston crushing Colorado in both games.

• July 11th-14th: All-Star Week and MLB Draft in Philadelphia

This year’s All-Star festivities will be held in Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park for the first time!

The order of events in Philly will be different from recent years, as the MLB Draft will lead things off on Saturday and Sunday, followed by the Futures Game later on Sunday. The Futures Game was previously the first event of the week, and the draft went into Monday, but now the Home Run Derby will shine on its own (for $17.99 a month on Netflix).

• August: Women’s Pro Baseball League Launches

This brand new league will play tournament-style, with four initial teams (LA, SF, NY, Boston) facing off in a four-week regular season and two-week postseason.

Each team will feature approximately 15 players and a fast-paced environment to promote the future of women’s baseball.

• September 29th-October 31st: MLB Postseason and World Series

This is what it’s all about, folks! It all comes down to this. We will be there.

Just Baseball Trivia of the Week

Our newsletter will have a trivia question every week to test and expand the baseball knowledge of our subscribers! The answer to the weekly trivia question will be at the bottom of the newsletter each week.

Which MLB team has never hosted the All-Star Game in its franchise history?

A) Washington Nationals

B) Tampa Bay Rays

C) Arizona Diamondbacks

D) Houston Astros

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Questions for 2026

Entering a new season, there are always so many questions to be answered. While we can’t hit on all of them…here are some of the things we’re wondering right now:

Where will the top four free agents play? It’s January and the top four free agents this offseason all remain on the board. It’s only a matter of time, but we’re still left wondering when they will finally find their homes for 2026 and beyond.

Can the Dodgers complete the three-peat? The Yankees are the last team to make it happen from 1998-2000, but there’s more parity than ever these days in MLB.

Will anybody dethrone Shohei, Judge, and Skubal? We’ve had back-to-back winners for three of the four major MLB awards. At this point, I’m not sure it would surprise anyone if this trio did it again.

Bold Predictions for 2026

Heading into the new year of baseball, I asked the hosts of the Just Baseball Show and our Editor-in-Chief for a bold prediction for 2026. Here are our predictions:

Peter Appel: The Minnesota Twins will make the playoffs.

Jack McMullen: Someone not named Shohei Ohtani wins NL MVP…and his name is Juan Soto.

Ryan Finkelstein: Francisco Alvarez will be an All-Star catcher.

Me: The Blue Jays and Mariners will both win 100+ games before facing off in a rematch of the 2025 ALCS.

Other Headlines

⭐️ The final two Japanese stars on the market inked deals in the past week. Tatsuya Imai will be heading to the Astros on a three-year deal that features an opt-out clause after every season. Kazuma Okamoto is heading to the Blue Jays on a four-year deal worth nearly double what Munetaka Murakami got from the White Sox. I think it’s safe to say just about nobody expected that.

Just Baseball Discord

We launched a Just Baseball community on Discord!

Our Discord channel is the ultimate baseball group chat while also providing exclusive access to Peter’s MLB best bets, Aram’s prospect content, giveaways, and direct connection to the entire Just Baseball staff.

Read all the details about our Discord community here.

Not Gambling Advice

Get ready for the NFL Playoffs with Peter Appel! We’ve got you covered with a full breakdown of everything you need to know ahead of WIld Card Round.

Check out the full analysis here ⬇️

Trivia Answer: B) Tampa Bay Rays

The Rays are the only team to never host the All-Star Game. Meanwhile, the Yankees and Phillies are the only two to never do so at their current stadium. That will change this season with Philadelphia hosting!

Just Baseball Merch

Our newest merchandise features retro logos, tv-inspired designs, and the anti wave social club!

We have also restocked on all your favorites including our vintage World Series line, hats, hoodies, City Series line, spring line, and much more.

Check out the full collection of Just Baseball swag here!