New York Yankees captain Aaron Judge will captain Team USA at the upcoming World Baseball Classic. After 2023's loss to Japan, the Americans loaded up with talent for the 2026 tournament. That includes Judge, who spoke about the tournament at Yankees spring training. He says that the Team USA group chats lost it over Jack Hughes' golden goal, which won men's hockey gold at the Olympics.
“We were all kind of talking in our group text together,” Judge said, per The Athletic's Brendan Kuty. “Everybody was (talking) about how fired up we are and how special it’s going to be. I look at it the same, just proud of our country. Those boys put on a good show, put on a good fight, and handled business. Now it’s our turn.”
Yankees closer David Bednar also spoke about the excitement to follow up the hockey golds. “Yankees reliever David Bednar said most of the texts flooding the chat were about ‘how special that moment was' and ‘how much pride they had.' He added there were quite a few “LFG” texts right after Jack Hughes’ game-winning goal,” Kuty reported.
Hughes, a star from the New Jersey Devils, slid a shot under Jordan Binnington's pad to win Team USA's first men's hockey gold medal in 46 years. Earlier that week, Megan Keller scored a similar goal to beat Canada in overtime, winning Team USA's third women's hockey gold medal.
Judge is part of an All-Star caliber lineup for Team USA at the World Baseball Classic. Paul Skenes and Tarik Skubal are set to pitch, Cal Raleigh and Bobby Witt Jr will be in the lineup, and Pete Crow-Armstrong will be manning centerfield. While avenging their 2023 loss, the Americans are also trying to follow up the hockey double gold.
Can Team USA and Judge win the World Baseball Classic?
