3 KC Royals who could join Aaron Judge and help lead Team USA to WBC Title

Even though the 2025 MLB season is likely still the primary focus of most baseball fans in U.S. right now, the upcoming 2026 World Baseball Classic will need to be at the back of their minds as well.

After falling just short claiming going back-to-back WBC titles in 2023, the road to redemption began this past week for Team USA after manager Mark DeRosa, named Aaron Judge team captain for next year's tournament.

Now over the next several months DeRosa and Judge will look to recruit from the immense American talent pool in front of them in order to assemble the best roster possible to capture world baseball glory. And that group could very well include several Kansas City Royals.

3 KC Royals who could join Aaron Judge and help lead Team USA to WBC Title

Bobby Witt Jr.

There's not much to argue here about the last season's American League MVP runner-up, as waxing poetic about Bobby Witt Jr. might one of the easiest things to do in baseball.

Not only is he the best American shortstop, after an over 10 fWAR season in 2024 (10.4) he's the best shortstop in all of baseball. And looking at it from a broader scale, other than Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani, Witt makes a sound argument to be considered the third best player in general in all of baseball.

From 2023 until now, Witt's accumulated the second highest fWAR (17.4) while sitting in and around the top 10 in AVG (5th), runs (5th), RBI (8th), OPS (11th) and wRC+ (12th).

Looking beyond the batters box, Witt is also an elite defender who's currently in the midst of his third season with a range (OAA) above the 90th percentile. His speed is also blinding, as he's in the midst of his fourth-straight season sitting in the 100th percentile in sprint speed.

If Judge is to be Captain America, then Witt is the perfect candidate to be his Bucky Barnes, coming off a season in which would've easily won him an MVP in most (if not all) years (had Judge not put up historic numbers). And he's picked up right where he left off in 2025, with a .310/.379/.488 slash line through the new season's first 22 games.

Cole Ragans

While Ragans might not necessarily be the unanimous slam dunk that Witt is for this U.S. WBC team, he might as well be. Ragans has gone about his business since being traded to the Royals back in 2023, quickly becoming one of MLB's most elite starting options.

Since making his Kansas City debut back on June 15, 2023, Ragans holds the fourth highest fWAR amongst qualified starters in that span at 8.4, trailing only Tarik Skubal (9.7), Zack Wheeler (9.0) and Logan Webb (8.9), all of which seem like shoe-ins for Team USA's roster.

On top of that, he ranks third in that span in ERA (3.06), second in FIP (2.75), fifth in BAA (.209), sixth in SIERA (3.38) and, arguably his most impressive ranking, first in K/9 (11.15).

He's mixed in an All-Star appearance, and will likely add a second in 2025, as well as a 2024 fourth place finish in AL Cy Young voting.

Great stats? Check. League-wide recognition? Check. High-leverage game experience? Check. Ragans checks all the boxes you'd want in a WBC starter, making the choice easy for Judge and DeRosa.

Lucas Erceg

Now we move to the interesting shout here, with Royals high-leverage relief pitcher extraordinaire in Lucas Erceg. However, while he may've really only burst onto the majority of baseball fans' radars last season, Erceg has the stats to back up the fact he's one of the best relievers in all of baseball at the moment.

Since making his debut with Kansas City on July 31, 2024, Erceg holds the highest reliever fWAR in all of baseball at 1.6. In that span he holds a 2.51 ERA, 1.37 FIP, 0.77 WHIP, .183 BAA, 10.02 K/9 and just 1.11 BB/9.

Besides his dominant stats, what also makes Erceg a valuable bullpen entity on a star-studded roster like Team USA, is his versatility. Erceg has shown his willingness to take a back-seat other closing arms, like he did with Mason Miller in the first half of 2024 and like he's doing with Carlos Estévez in 2025. He can come into a game whenever needed and deliver to an extremely high degree.

That being said the second half of 2024 showed that Erceg is also comfortable coming in and closing out a game too. He anchored the Royals 'pen down the stretch last year, recording 11 saves in 25 innings of work, along with a 2.88 ERA, 1.17 FIP, 0.84 WHIP, .194 BAA, 11.16 K/9 and 1.08 BB/9.

Both skilled and versatile, Erceg may not possess the household status that his teammates in Witt and Ragans hold, but he's undoubtedly one of the best American relievers in baseball and should be just as much a no-brainer for this 2026 WBC roster as those two are.