Team USA vs. Venezuela: Odds, time, lineup and everything to know about 2026 World Baseball Classic title game

After 12 days of exciting games, the World Baseball Classic championship game has arrived. THE The United States survived the powerful Dominican Republic to return to the title game on Sunday night. Venezuela came back to beat the underdog Italian team to punch his first-ever ticket to the WBC title match on Monday. It’s fair to call Tuesday’s title fight in Miami the greatest game in Venezuelan baseball history.

“I’ve never been to the WBC championship before. We’re getting there and we’re happy,” Venezuelan third baseman Maikel Garcia said after beating Italy. “We’re excited to play tomorrow against the United States. We have to come tomorrow and play the same way we played against Japan, against Italy, and we have to show the world who Venezuela is.”

Team USA will be the home team on Tuesday and the game will be played on American soil, but make no mistake, it will be a pro-Venezuela crowd. Venezuelan baseball fans showed up throughout the WBC and especially Monday evening against Italy. The atmosphere will be even more electric on Tuesday. Now here’s what you need to know ahead of Tuesday’s WBC championship match.

Team USA vs. Venezuela: Where to watch, odds

• Time: 8 p.m. ET | Date: Tuesday March 17
• Location: loanDepot Park (Miami, Florida)
• TV channel: Fox | Live Stream: fubo (Try for free)
• Starting pitchers: LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (VEN) vs. RHP Nolan McLean (USA)
• Odds (via FanDuel): US -265, FRI +215, O/U: 8.5

Roster of the American team

1. Bobby Witt Jr., SS
2. Bryce Harper, 1B
3. Aaron Judge, R.F.
4. Kyle Schwarber, DH
5. Alex Bregman, 3B
6. Roman Anthony, LF
7. Will Smith, C.
8. Brice Turang, 2B
9. Byron Buxton, C.F.

Composition of Venezuela

1. Ronald Acuna Jr., RF
2. Maikel Garcia, 3B
3. Luis Arraez, 1B
4. Eugenio Suarez, DH
5.Gleyber Torres, 2B
6. Ezequiel Tovar, SS
7. Wiyer Abreu, LF
8. Salvador Pérez, C
9. Jackson Chourio, C.F.

Face-to-face story

This won’t be the first time the United States and Venezuela have met in the WBC. They have met five times before, including three times in 2009 alone, when the WBC format was very different from what it is today. Here is a recap of this WBC rivalry:

• Qualification for Pool C 2009: USA 15, FRI 6
• Ranking of Pool C 2009: FRI 5, US 3
• Ranking of Pool 2 2009: FRI 10, US 6
• Pool F 2017: US 4, FRI 2
• 2023 quarter-finals: US 9, FRI 7

The United States and Venezuela both advanced to the semifinals in 2009 and could have met in the championship match, but Venezuela lost to Korea in the semifinals while the United States lost to Japan. Japan then defeated Korea in the title match. In 2023, Trea Turner’s eighth-round Grand Slam turned a 7-5 deficit into an eventual 9-7 U.S. victory over Venezuela.

Overall, Team USA is 3-2 against Venezuela in the WBC and has outscored Venezuela 37-30 in the five games. And you know what? It won’t matter on Tuesday. What happened in 2009, 2017 or 2023 will have no bearing on what happens in 2026. Different players, different teams, different eras.

The United States offensive has not really broken out

The United States eliminated Brazil (15-5) and Great Britain (9-1) in pool play, which they hoped to do. In the four games since they have scored 3, 6, 5 and 2 points. They scored two runs in their last 12 innings, both on solo home runs. Despite all the big names and big bats on the team, the United States’ offense has not been dominant against teams more on their level (i.e. neither Brazil nor Great Britain).

This will not necessarily have to change against Venezuela. Team USA is fully capable of winning a pitching duel (see: Sunday against the Dominican Republic), but this is a team built to punish the ball and wear down opposing pitchers. They are an offense-oriented team and the offense has been good in the WBC, but not amazing. Tuesday is the last chance for American bats to wake up.

Bullpens can be short

It’s unclear whether each team will have their go-to relievers available Tuesday, given their recent workload. After all, it’s still spring training and the United States and Venezuela won’t put their players at risk of injury. After the Italy game on Monday, Venezuela manager Omar López joked that “even Johan Santana was going to pitch” when asked about his bullpen for the championship game.

This late in the WBC, we have a pretty good understanding of who each team’s trusted late-inning relievers are. López relied on Eduard Bazardo, Andrés Machado and closer Daniel Palencia. U.S. manager Mark DeRosa struck out David Bednar, Garrett Whitlock and closer Mason Miller late innings in close games. Here are their pitch totals over the past few days:

Tuesday would be consecutive days and three times in four days for Bazardo, Machado and Palencia. Teams don’t like to use their best relievers much during the regular season, let alone in mid-March. Southpaw Angel Zerpa, López’s go-to man in left-left matchups, would also pitch two days in a row and three times in four days on Tuesday. Its availability is also in question.

Team USA had an off day on Monday, so America’s top late-inning relievers had that built-in rest. Still, Tuesday would be three times in five days for Bednar, Miller and Whitlock. It’s a workload that teams prefer to avoid at this point in the schedule. For what it’s worth, Red Sox manager Alex Cora said Whitlock would be available to play in the WBC championship game.

My guess, and I emphasize that this is just a guess, is that the United States will have a full bullpen with everyone available on Tuesday, and that Venezuela will have everyone available except Luinder Avila and Ricardo Sánchez. Avila and Sánchez both went multiple innings out of the bullpen on Monday, and it’s a lot to ask to pitch a second straight day after that.

For the United States, right-handers Griffin Jax and Brad Keller are next in line for a high-leverage job. So does sub right-hander Tyler Rogers. Venezuela’s next tier of bullpen features Jose Alvarez and José Buttó. In terms of pitching depth, this is the United States’ advantage across the board.

Prediction

Our team overwhelmingly chose the United States to win on Tuesday. I was the only dissident to go to Venezuela and, honestly, I can’t give you good reasons for this choice. Predicting a single baseball game between reasonably even teams is a foolish task. This sport is not designed to be predictable. If Venezuela wins the championship, it shouldn’t come as a shock. This is a very good team full of MLB stars, just like Team USA. I went Venezuela 6, United States 5 because, well, why not?