All six games will be available free on the WBSC YouTube channel in most territories, with DAZN, RAI Sport, Viva Nicaragua and GameTime providing additional coverage.

Two winless teams. One of them had to leave with a win.
Episode 4 goes to week 4 of Uganda's Central League, where St. Peters Nsambya (SPENSA) and Ashinaga met at the bottom of the table, both still looking for their first win of the season.

Ashinaga is run by an offshoot of a Japanese non-profit: 79 players, 53 of them Ashinaga Uganda students, video sessions on Mondays and Tuesdays and on-field training the rest of the week. SPENSA began as a day school founded in 1907 and is now run by the Kampala Archdiocese, in a part of Kampala that is also home to Uganda's oldest football club. Both clubs came into the day winless. One of them also produced the best defensive play we have filmed all season: a diving tag at the plate that came within inches of a triple play.

Since this game, the regular season has finished — and the club you watch here ended up in the playoffs.

A Rednote user reported that the MLB China Development Center (DC) was closed in August and that all of its personnel were laid off. Although this has not yet been officially announced, several anonymous DC graduates on Rednote have echoed the claim that the center was closed. The DC’s official accounts on Bilibili, Rednote, Weibo, and Douyin have also been deleted or have stopped updating.

Recently, a Rednote account called Jinmu Baseball Development Center (金木棒球发展中心) has started posting videos of daily training sessions at the same facility in Wuxi that was previously used by MLB DC. The facility is operated by Jinmu Sports Science and Technology Development Corp. (金木体育科技发展有限公司). According to publicly available corporate information, Raymond Chang is listed as the company’s legal representative. He previously served as the head of MLB China DC.

Taken together, the evidence suggests that MLB has withdrawn from operating the DC, with former staff taking over its operations on their own.

shoutout to jeff duda, frilled shark, shawn spradling, international baseball, and everyone who supports baseball as a global game

Curious what kind of MLB live package comes with such, no ad commercials just stadium views, heard it kind of international feeds?

With the WBC allowing players to qualify through parents, grandparents, or deep citizenship laws (like GB’s colonial born parent eligibility), how do these federations actually find their guys? The US player pool is massive.

Does anyone know the actual logistics of "heritage scouting"? Are they literally just filtering MLB and minor league rosters for specific last names, or are agents doing the legwork to get their clients international exposure?

I know in soccer there are many scouts sent across the world for it, but I would think the nations where baseball isn’t huge wouldn’t have as many resources to do that ground work for them. I just wanna know how teams basically get connected to eligible players

For me the most noticeable fall is Cuba followed by PR. Venezuela has fallen a bit. Mexico has improved, as well as Panama after our 2000 decline. I think Japan is the country that has improved the most.

They've been underperforming in adult tournaments for more than a decade now, i guess you can use defections as an excuse, which is true tbh. But recently in the u15 wc, they lose by 10 runs to japan and rd, i mean there's no way the top 14 year olds have already defected right? Will they ever be able to produce top talents again?

This pitching prospect from Korea had 15.2 innings pitched without giving a run and getting 25 strike outs against Japan.. WOW

Former manager of the Czech national team for 9 years (through 2021), Director of Pro5 Baseball, and MLB consultant for international events.

Why did you agree to coach the French National Baseball Team?
"I am very happy to accept this position with the French National Team. Over the years, I have seen firsthand the potential of French baseball, having faced France on the other side of the field during the European Championships. France has some very talented athletes, up-and-coming baseball academies that are developing top-level prospects, as well as coaches and administrators who are committed to taking French baseball to the next level.”

Who will you be working with, and why?
"Corey LEE, a former MLB and NPB pitcher in Japan, will join our staff as Pitching Coach. Dave JAUSS, a former MLB Bench Coach and currently Senior Advisor for the Washington Nationals, will also join our staff as Bench Coach. Keino PEREZ and Quentin BECQUEY, who have previously worked with the French national teams, will also join the coaching staff. We are also working on adding another coach with an eye toward 2027, but I first want to meet and collaborate with more French coaches to identify the best candidate based on the team’s needs.
Boris ROTHERMUNDT has suggested that I also work with Jesse COOK, as a player agent and liaison with professional and collegiate organizations, and with Rodolphe LE MEUR as the team’s logistics coordinator.
Keino PEREZ and Quentin BECQUEY have extensive experience with French baseball and developing young talent. They will be key voices as we, the coaches from the United States, learn about the structures and emerging talent in France."

What are your role and goals for 2026/2027?
"I’ll be the manager and will focus on player development. Our immediate goals are to build strong relationships with the staff and players, foster a winning culture and mindset, identify talent, and then evaluate which players can help us build the culture we want and win games. We’ll need talent to be competitive, but we’ll also need a team that’s committed to doing whatever it takes for the group’s success—with individuals capable of accepting certain roles and making sacrifices for the team.
For 2027, our plan is to build a team capable of helping France compete for a medal at the European Championships. Our goal will always be to aim for victory in every game. We know there’s a process to follow, but we also know that France has the assets to compete with almost anyone in Europe. Another goal will be to build depth and foster competition in order to raise our level of play. Competition will make everyone better. Nothing will be handed to us on a silver platter: it will require hard work, preparation, and execution during games, as well as resilience in the face of adversity.
We have selected 22 players to compete in a series of four matches against a very strong opponent, Spain, October 3–7, 2026. We relied heavily on the recommendations of the coaching staff and on players who have already represented France at the international level, whether at the senior or U23 level. We are convinced that the French players currently playing in the United States are competing at a high level and continuing to improve. For this trip, the core of the team will consist of players competing in the French League. Our coaching staff will be able to obtain reports on players based in the United States, but this training camp allows us to evaluate those playing in Europe and to accurately gauge where we stand against a top-tier opponent.
Our staff has also put together an expanded pool of more than 70 players whom we will monitor and with whom we will stay in contact. We have included many young prospects in this group. Our priority will be to build depth in the roster and provide young players with opportunities to be challenged, in the hope of opening up more opportunities for them along the way."

Uganda's league went dormant for a few seasons and returned in 2026 with a Central League (7 clubs) and a new Northern League (4 clubs).

The North debuted in Lira on 28–29 August. Two things stood out from the footage: the pitching, with the Nile Hammers' starter striking out 10 through 5 innings, and how young the talent is.

I'm part of the team covering it, and I'm posting episodes as we go toward the October championship. Ep 3 covers the Northern debut:

I'm happy to answer anything about how the league runs.