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Well, the World Baseball Classic final is underway, and everybody has picked their sides. But the umpires on the field mustn’t, like how that last call in the USA vs Dominican Republic ruined the game. And that is why it is very important to know who the umpires are on the field.

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The Umpire Channel on Facebook reported saying, “Congrats to the 2026 WBC finals umpire crew!” With that, they added a photo of the umpires.

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Dan Bellino is going to be standing behind the home plate for the final game of the World Baseball Classic. he has has handled 29 games behind the plate in 2025 with an accuracy of 94.71%. Cory Blaser is going to be working first base alongside Jeremie Rehak at second. They are going to be backed up by Chris Graham at third, Delfin Colon at left field, and Cuti Suarez at right.

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The happy news is that there have not been any controversial calls by Dan Bellino in the World Baseball Classic. And the hope is that the umpires are going to handle the pressure and have a positive impact on the game. Especially with no ABS in the WBC.

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Calls for ABS in the World Baseball Classic are starting to gain momentum

The semifinal between the USA and the Dominican Republic ended on a bad call by Cory Blaser. Ball tracking showed that the pitch by Mason Miller missed the zone by a few inches. Earlier in the game, Juan Soto was also called out on a similar pitch. Statcast data placed both pitches outside the zone, making two missed calls in late innings.

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Geraldo Perdomo, after the game, said that he knew it was a ball. Juan Soto reacted to this by shaking his head and and spoke to the umpire before leaving. Those moments added to the arguments of ABS in the World Baseball Classic.

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Derek Jeter said in the postgame that ABS will likely be added to the 2029 WBC after this controversy. CC Sabathia posted online supporting the USA win but calling out the final call by the umpire. For decades, baseball accepted human error, yet technology now offers precise zone checks in seconds.

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Karthik Sri Hari KC

1,522 Articles

Karthik Sri Hari KC is a baseball writer at EssentiallySports who reports from the MLB GameDay Desk. A former national-level baseball player, Karthik brings a player’s instincts combined with a journalist’s precision to his coverage of key moments across the league. Known as a stat specialist, he ranks among EssentiallySports’ top three MLB writers, delivering in-depth analysis that goes beyond numbers to highlight team and player strategies. Karthik’s athlete-informed perspective, shaped by years on the field, has earned him a place in the EssentiallySports Journalistic Excellence Program, our internal training initiative where writers develop their reporting and storytelling skills under industry experts. In addition to his writing, Karthik has experience creating educational content during internships, enhancing his research, writing, and communication skills.

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