We’re less than 24 hours into the 2026 World Baseball Classic, and we already have had our first upset.
In all honesty, if you hadn’t looked at the betting lines prior to Australia’s 3-0 win over Chinese Taipei, you would have probably assumed that it was the Aussies who were considered a dark horse to get out of Pool C — not the other way around. However, Australia rode a dominating pitching performance to a tournament-opening victory, holding Chinese Taipei to just three hits.
Can Australia move to 2-0 on Day 2 of pool play? Or will the Czech Republic be able to rebound after its own 11-4 loss to Korea? Let’s preview this WBC tilt with the help of some odds and lines on the DraftKings Sportsbook.
Australia vs. Czech Republic prediction, preview
The expected pitching matchup doesn’t mean too much in the opening round of the World Baseball Classic, as pitchers are limited to just 65 total pitches. That generally means at least five or six innings of work for each country’s bullpen, which is exactly what we saw in Day 1. That said, Josh Hendrickson is projected to toe the rubber for Australia, while Tomas Ondra will start for the Czechs.
Hendrickson is yet another lanky lefty on Australia’s staff, after the team used exclusively southpaws to navigate all nine innings versus Chinese Taipei. Though currently a member of the ABL, Hendrickson does have loads of experience in affiliated ball, spending parts of four seasons in the Phillies’ organization. The now 28-year-old was a 38th round pick in the 2019 MLB Draft, and Hendrickson twice climbed the minor league ladder all the way up to Triple-A, throwing 10.0 innings with Lehigh Valley as recently as 2023.
Ondra does not possess Hendrickson’s track record. The soon-to-be 30-year-old has primarily spent his professional career pitching in the Bundesliga in Germany. Heck, Ondra didn’t even pitch for the Czech Republic in the 2023 World Baseball Classic. That said, Ondra did throw 8.1 scoreless innings for the Czechs in the third-place game of European Baseball Championship in 2025 against Spain, so the RHP is no stranger to high pressure situations.
From a run production standpoint, the advantage again appears to be with Australia. Martin Cervenka and Terrin Vavra make up a formidable middle of the order for the Czech Republic, with the latter even having 160 career MLB plate appearances to his name, but it doesn’t quite match-up with the Aussie’s top-end talent. Former No. 1 overall pick Travis Bazzana and White Sox infielder Curtis Mead combined for four of Australia’s seven hits in Wednesday’s win, including a 383-foot, no-doubt home run off the bat of Bazzana. The 23-year-old posted a 137 wRC+ in 2025, splitting his season at Double-A and Triple-A. It’s just a matter of time before Bazzana makes his MLB debut with the Guardians, and it didn’t take him long to showcase his immense talents in this tournament.
Australia vs. Czech Republic pick, best bet
Same Game Parlay: Australia ML + Bazzana 1+ Hit + Mead 1+ Hit (-150)
There’s no value in just taking Australia on the moneyline, so let’s add in its two MLB talents to each record a hit. As mentioned above, Bazzana and Mead, hitting atop their country’s lineup, each had a pair of hits against Chinese Taipei. They should have little issue recreating that magic against the Czechs, who truly only won a game in 2023 because of the presence of China. There’s is no such layup for them in Pool C in 2026.
