Baseball may have been invented in the United States of America. The first known baseball game was played on June 19, 1846, in New Jersey, pitting the New York Mutuals against the Knickerbockers, with the Mutuals winning the four-inning contest 23-1. The game was very different back then.
Now, 180 years later, the United States struggles to come out on top in the de facto world championship of baseball, the World Baseball Classic. A powerful, at least on paper, Team USA opens its campaign with a warm-up exhibition game Tuesday against the San Francisco Giants. The game will be the first test for Team USA, which has won the WBC only once out of the five tournaments that have been held since 2006.
In fact, Team USA has made it past the quarterfinals only three times, getting to the finals twice, beating Puerto Rico for the championship in 2017, but losing to three-time champions Japan in the most recent WBC in 2023.
The 2026 Team USA features such stars as three-time American League MVP Aaron Judge, 2025 National League Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes, last year’s No. 1 prospect in baseball Roman Anthony, and AL All-Star catcher Cal Raleigh, who belted 60 home runs in 2025.
Will the supercharged roster be enough to get past Samurai Japan, the team that has dominated the tournament since its inception in 2006? Tuesday’s game against the Giants will give the first indication, and it will be nationally televised so fans all over the country can judge for themselves.
Who are the Starting Pitchers For Team USA vs. San Francisco Giants?
Taking the mound for Team USA will be Skenes, last season’s MLB ERA leader at 1.96 after registering a 1.96 ERA in his rookie year.
Left-hander Matthew Boyd of the Chicago Cubs is reportedly set to follow Skenes on Tuesday, with Griffin Jax (Tampa Bay Rays), Gabe Speier (Seattle Mariners), David Bednar (New York Yankees) and Mason Miller (San Diego Padres) also getting work in, manager Mark De Rosa said on Monday.
The Giants originally announced that right-hander Blade Tidwell, ranked as the No. 16 overall prospect in the Giants system by Baseball America, would get the start. But on Tuesday morning rookie manager Tony Vitello announced that veteran Adrian Houser, pitching for his fifth team in the last four years, would start the game against Team USA.
What Are The Starting Lineups For Team USA and the Giants?
De Rosa posted his starting lineup shortly before noon Eastern Time on Tuesday. Here it is…
Team USA
Bobby Witt Jr. (Kansas City Royals) SS
Bryce Harper (Philadelphia Phillies) 1B
Aaron Judge (New York Yankees) RF
Kyle Schwarber (Philadelphia Phillies) DH
Alex Bregman (Chicago Cubs) 3B
Cal Raleigh (Seattle Mariners) C
Roman Anthony (Boston Red Sox) LF
Byron Buxton (Minnesota Twins) CF
Brice Turang (Milwaukee Brewers) 2B
Vitello also announced his starting lineup and batting order.
San Francisco Giants
Willy Adames SS
Matt Chapman 3B
Patrick Bailey C
Victor Bericoto DH
Will Brennan LF
Grant McCray RF
Christian Koss 2B
Bryce Eldridge 1B
Jared Oliva CF
What Time is the Game? What TV Channel Carries It?
The Team USA vs. San Francisco Giants World Baseball Classic exhibition game is scheduled to get underway at 1:05 p.m. MT, 3:05 p.m. ET, and 12:05 p.m. PT at Scottsdale Stadium in Scottsdale, Arizona. The game will be broadcast by ESPN, with a live stream available via the paid subscription ESPN app.
Team USA vs. SF Giants WBC Exhibition: TV Channel, Starting Lineups & Pitchers