Cal Raleigh to play for US in World Baseball Classic, joining Judge, Skenes and Witt

ATLANTA (AP) — Seattle catcher Cal Raleigh agreed to play for the U.S. team at next year’s World Baseball Classic, joining captain Aaron Judge, Paul Skenes and Bobby Witt Jr.

USA Baseball announced the decision Monday before Raleigh participated in the All-Star Home Run Derby. The 28-year-old entered the All-Star break leading the major leagues with 38 homers and 82 RBIs.

The 20-nation WBC will be played from March 5-17. Japan is defending champion.

Also Monday, the World Baseball Softball Confederation said the baseball tournament at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics will be played from July 15-20 at Dodger Stadium. MLB is considering whether it can interrupt its 2028 season to allow major leagues to participate.

There will be two groups of three teams during a preliminary round over three days, with two games per day. The group winners advance to the semifinals, while the other teams compete in a pair of quarterfinals. Semifinals will be played July 19, and gold and bronze medal games the next day.

The softball tournament will be played from July 23-29 at OKC Softball Park in Oklahoma City. A five-day round-robin will be played on July 28 followed by the gold medal game the next day.

___ AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb