2026 World Baseball Classic Preview for Games on Monday, March 16, 2026

It’s time for Day 2 of the semifinals of the 2026 World Baseball Classic on Monday, March 16th.

We’ve got an intriguing matchup between two surprise teams when Italy takes on Venezuela.

On this page, we’ll dive into the full World Baseball Classic slate on Mar. 16. You’ll find a game preview for each of these matchups, along with best bets at the end of the page. Visit us daily as we’ll get you set each day of the World Baseball Classic with recaps, look aheads, and much more!

2026 World Baseball Classic Betting Resources

• World Baseball Classic Odds
• World Baseball Classic Pool Play Picks
• World Baseball Classic Team USA Parlays
• World Baseball Classic Futures Picks
• World Baseball Classic Betting Sites
• World Baseball Classic Promotions

Monday WBC Schedule

• Italy vs. Venezuela (8 p.m. ET) (FS1)

Italy vs. Venezuela Preview

Italy has been the story of the tournament. Once considered longshots to even get out of the group stage, they’re now one win away from a rematch vs. USA in the WBC Finals. This is an impressive lineup, led by a pair of Kansas City Royals, Vinnie Pasquantino and Jac Caglianone. It will be a phenomenal story if they can keep it rolling against Venezuela here.

On the other side, Venezuela is proving themselves as a juggernaut on the world stage. Fresh off an upset win over the defending champions, Japan, Venezuela has a legit chance of being crowned champions. Led by a stacked lineup that includes Ronald Acuña Jr., Wilyer Abreu, and Jackson Chourio, this is a group that can rack up runs against any pitcher.

In this semifinals matchup, Italy was initially going with Michael Lorenzen, who pitched 4.2 scoreless innings against USA, but they made a late change to Aaron Nola. The Philadelphia Phillies’ righty was outstanding against Mexico, where he tossed five scoreless innings. Venezuela is countering with Keider Montero, who was also rock-solid against Nicaragua, when he went three scoreless frames. I give the slight edge to Italy on the mound here.

This has the look of a close game that could come down to the wire.

Italy vs. Venezuela Game Odds

Italy vs. Venezuela Betting Pick

Venezuela is a heavy favorite in this game at -190 odds, which feels a bit inflated, even with them beating Japan and being the superior team on paper. We can’t count Italy out with how well they’ve played throughout this tournament.

With that said, I do think Venezuela wins this game, it’s just that I’m not confident enough to lay -190 juice. That’s why we’re going to look to the over in this one.

Italy has scored 8, 7, 8, 9, and 8 runs in this tournament. Their offense has been a major problem for opposing pitching staffs. The same goes for Venezuela, as they’ve put up 8, 5, 4, 11, and 6 runs so far.

Even with Nola on the mound for Italy, I still like this to be a high-scoring game.

Best Bet: ITA/VEN O to win 1 unit

2026 World Baseball Classic Betting Tracker

• Record: 7-6
• Units: -0.82

2026 World Baseball Classic Betting Results

• Moneyline (Favorite-Underdog): 33-11
• Run Line (Favorite-Underdog): 24-20
• Run Total (Over-Under): 19-25

Wednesday, Mar. 4

• Chinese Taipei 0 vs. Australia 3 (+2.5) – Under

Thursday, Mar. 5

• Czechia 4 vs. Korea 11 (-6.5) – Over
• Czechia 1 vs. Australia 5 (-4.5) – Under

Friday, Mar. 6

• Chinese Taipei 0 vs. Japan 13 (-4.5) – Over
• Panama 1 vs. Cuba 3 (-1.5) – Under
• Netherlands 2 vs. Venezuela 6 (-3.5) – Under
• Great Britain 2 vs. Mexico 8 (-4.5) – Over
• Colombia 0 vs. Puerto Rico 5 (-2.5) – Under
• Nicaragua 3 vs. Dominican Republic 12 (-4.5) – Over
• Brazil 5 vs. USA 15 (-9.5) – Over

Saturday, Mar. 7

• Korea 6 vs. Japan 8 (-4.5) – Over
• Colombia 2 vs. Canada 8 (-1.5) Over
• Nicaragua 3 vs. Netherlands 4 (-2.5) – Under
• Brazil 0 vs. Italy 8 (-4.5) – Under
• Panama 3 vs. Puerto Rico 4 (-3.5) – Under
• Israel 3 vs. Venezuela 11 (-5.5) – Over
• Great Britain 1 vs. USA 9 (-9.5) – Under
• Korea 4 vs. Chinese Taipei 5 (+2.5) – Over

Sunday, Mar. 8

• Australia 3 vs. Japan 4 (-4.5) – Under
• Netherlands 1 vs. Dominican Republic 12 (-4.5) Over
• Colombia 4 vs. Cuba 7 (-1.5) – Over
• Great Britain 4 vs. Italy 7 (-4.5) – Over
• Nicaragua 0 vs. Israel 5 (+1.5) – Under
• Brazil 0 vs. Mexico 16 (-7.5) – Over
• Canada 3 vs. Panama 4 (+4.5) – Under

Monday, Mar. 9

• Australia 2 vs. Korea 7 (-2.5) – Under
• Panama 3 vs. Colombia 4 (+1.5) – Under
• Israel 1 vs. Dominican Republic 10 (-7.5) – Under
• Brazil 1 vs. Great Britain 8 (-2.5) – Under
• Nicaragua 0 vs. Venezuela 4 (-6.5) – Under
• Mexico 3 vs. USA 5 (-3.5) – Under
• Cuba 1 vs. Puerto Rico 4 (-2.5) – Under

Tuesday, Mar. 10

• Czechia 0 vs. Japan 9 (-2.5) – Under
• Netherlands 2 vs. Israel 6 (+1.5) – Under
• Puerto Rico 2 vs. Canada 3 (+1.5) – Under
• USA 6 vs. Italy 8 (+5.5) – Over

Wednesday, Mar. 11

• Cuba 2 vs. Canada 7 (-1.5) – Over
• Venezuela 5 vs. Dominican Republic 7 (-2.5) – Over
• Mexico 1 vs. Italy 9 (+1.5) – Over

Friday, Mar. 13

• Canada 3 vs. USA 5 (-4.5) – Under
• Korea 0 vs. Dominican Republic 10 (-4.5) – Under

Saturday, Mar. 14

• Puerto Rico 6 vs. Italy 8 (-1.5) – Over
• Japan 5 vs. Venezuela 8 (+2.5) – Over

Sunday, Mar. 15

• Dominican Republic 1 vs. USA 2 (-1.5) – Under