For fans of international sports, there are few better years on the calendar than 2026. The year kicked off with the Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo and will feature the FIFA World Cup later this summer in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
There’s also the World Baseball Classic. Pool-stage play has already started in Pool C, with the other three pools set to begin play today. Australia, Chinese Taipei, and Czechia have already played two games, with Australia winning both and Chinese Taipei and Czechia losing both. Each faces an extremely difficult path to qualify now; only the top two teams in each pool will qualify for the quarterfinals.
One of those two teams is guaranteed to get its first win tonight, though, as they’ll face off at 10 p.m. ET (12 p.m. local Saturday) at the Tokyo Dome. Chen Zhong-Ao Zhuang will toe the rubber for Chinese Taipei, while Czechia will start Jan Novak.
Chinese Taipei is a 3.5-run favorite at DraftKings Sportsbook (-475 on the Moneyline), with the run total set to 9. Czechia is +350 on the Moneyline. Below, I’ll break down this do-or-die matchup and offer my prediction.
Chinese Taipei vs. Czechia prediction, preview
Chinese Taipei opened this World Baseball Classic with a stunner, falling 3-0 to Australia in an upset, and while starting pitcher Jo-Hsi Hsu did his job, pitching four innings of two-hit, shutout ball, the homer that reliever Po-Yu Chen gave up to Robbie Perkins proved the difference, and 2024 first overall pick Travis Bazzana sealed the deal two innings later with a solo shot of his own. Then, the following day, Chinese Taipei became the first team defeated by mercy rule, as Japan scored 10 runs in the second inning alone in a 13-0 rout. Hao-Chun Cheng, Chih-Wei Hu, and Tzu-Chen Sha all sport double-digit ERA’s after the disaster, and through two games, the offense has collected just four hits.
It’s not as if Chinese Taipei doesn’t have the talent. The island has a long, rich baseball tradition, as it holds the record for the most Little League World Series titles, and the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) has some quality. Infielders Tzu-Wei Lin, Yu-Cheng Chang, and Tsung-Che Cheng all have MLB experience, with Chang even hitting 20 career homers. Catcher Kungkuan Giljegiljaw, who had a hit in his one at-bat against Australia, reached the Double-A level in 2019. Outfielder Lyle Lin slashed .409/.480/.568 in 14 games for the Texas Rangers’ Double-A affiliate in 2024, and outfielder Stuart Fairchield has 18 career homers.
Chinese Taipei doesn’t have any pitchers on its current roster with MLB experience (Kai-Wei Teng opted not to pitch in the World Baseball Classic), but tonight’s starter, Zhuang, has made two relief appearances for the Athletics in Spring Training, pitching to an 8.10 ERA. The Athletics also have another Taiwanese prospect, Wei-En Lin, a 20-year-old lefty who pitched to a 3.72 ERA across three minor league levels last season, and 22-year-old Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Yu-Min Lin reached AAA. Neither has appeared so far in this World Baseball Classic.
Czechia has also had two fairly handy defeats to open its World Baseball Classic, dropping an 11-4 decision to Korea Republic and losing 5-1 to Australia, as starters Daniel Padysak and Tomas Ondra both got shelled before the back end of the bullpen settled down in each case. Today’s starter, Novak, was the only Czech pitcher to record a clean inning in the defeat against Korea, but both Ondrej Satoria (3.2 innings) and Marek Minarik (one inning) managed to escape unscathed against Australia. Presumably, Satoria won’t be available to pitch tonight against Chinese Taipei, which has to be a boon for the Taiwanese.
For the most part, Czechia’s squad is a misfit band of part-time pros, as only three hitters on its squad have minor league experience. Catcher Martin Cervenka spent the longest time in the minors, playing for 10 seasons across six different levels and slashing .218/.309/.362 with seven homers in 84 games in AAA, and he’s hitting .333 so far this World Baseball Classic. Vojtech Mensik spent one season at the single-A level, posting a .620 OPS and stealing 15 bases in 54 games. But arguably the most accomplished Czech hitter is Terrin Vavra, who has played 68 MLB games and slashed .252/.329/.302, ranking in the league’s top quartile in expected batting average and walk rate in 2022.
Czechia lacks pitching: only two hurlers on its roster have made any minor-league appearances, and only one has even made the Single-A level. Thankfully for Czechia, one of those players is Novak, who made 21 relief appearances for the Baltimore Orioles’ rookie-ball team in 2014 and 2015, recording a 3.77 ERA and a .236 batting average against. The other, Minarik, will probably also be available to pitch, although he had a 5.29 ERA across 18 starts and had a 6.23 ERA in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
Chinese Taipei vs. Czechia pick, best bet
Neither of these teams is great, especially with Teng opting to skip the competition. However, despite how impotent Chinese Taipei’s offense has looked so far this tournament, the fact that it has four different hitters with MLB experience and Czechia only has one suggests that it is due for some improvement. Plus, Chinese Taipei has saved its best pitchers thus far, with Wei-En Lin, Tzu-Min Lin, and Zhuang all yet to make an appearance.
A 13-0 defeat against Japan is an objectively worse result than an 11-4 loss to Korea, but Japan has a far more talented roster that features the reigning NL MVP and World Series MVP, and it has home-field advantage. Chinese Taipei also settled down after the 10-run second-inning outburst, while Czechia gave up runs pretty consistently throughout the game against Korea. The third Asian team in the group should be able to settle down and get a comfortable win on the board.
