Padres Fans Sound Off: Unexpected Reactions to Players in World Baseball Classic Revealed!

Every year, SB Nation Reacts taps into the pulse of Major League Baseball fans—from die-hard Padres supporters to baseball enthusiasts across the nation. We pose questions ranging from the mundane to the momentous, capturing raw fan sentiment. Curious? Hop on board and sign up here to get our weekly surveys directly in your inbox.

Here’s the deal: The World Baseball Classic offers MLB players a rare chance—to don their national colors and step onto the international diamond. Held every three or four years, it unfolds smack dab in the middle of Spring Training, a time when clubs normally have their eyes on the grueling 162-game stretch ahead. This clash between prepping for the long haul and playing for pride sparks ongoing debates—should the WBC replace the All-Star game to give participants a better runway to gear up for this intense global showdown?

The WBC’s allure is undeniable—players cherish representing their homelands, and fans delight in witnessing their favorites compete beyond the usual league borders. Still, the flip side hits hard once the tournament wraps: players shuffle back to their MLB squads, often left catching up on lost chemistry and practice time. For the San Diego Padres, that’s been a source of notable headaches in past seasons.

Flashback to 2023—the expectation was clear: Padres would breeze into the playoffs, blitz through postseason rounds, and finally hoist their first World Series trophy. Reality? Quite the opposite. The team stumbled, scraping together a modest 83 wins and missing the playoffs altogether. Under then-manager Bob Melvin, the lineup brimming with stars like Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr., Xander Bogaerts, and Juan Soto just didn’t gel the way fans hoped.

Beyond on-field cohesion, the health risks loom large. Baseball, sure, always carries injury risks—but ramping up intensity earlier than usual, pushing through an international tourney, cranks those odds sky-high. Take a look at the New York Mets’ closer, Edwin Diaz, who took a freak injury celebrating a WBC victory—nothing reckless, just unfortunate—and ended up sidelined for the season.

Don’t get me wrong—I’m all for the WBC. It’s thrilling to watch genuine, high-caliber baseball played with national pride in every pitch. Yet, every time I see Machado, Tatis Jr., Bogaerts, Mason Miller, or other Padres drop back into their swings, I’m biting my nails, hoping no sudden tweak or grimace spells trouble.

With all that in mind, Gaslamp Ball wants to know: What’s your take on Padres players suiting up for the WBC? We’re eager to hear your thoughts—results will be unveiled later this week in our Padres Reacts Survey.

LEARN MORE

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Padres fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.

The World Baseball Classic is an opportunity for MLB players to represent their country on the baseball field. The tournament takes place every three to four years and games are played during Spring Training when MLB teams are typically trying to get their players prepared for the 162-game season. There has been some debate about whether the WBC games should be played in lieu of that season’s All-Star game to provide the athletes who are taking part more time to ramp up and prepare for the rigors of a global competition.

The WBC players often talk about how being selected to play for their country is an honor and for the fans of the players it is fun to see them competing on their respective teams. However, at the end of the tournament, the players all return to their MLB clubs and the missed opportunities to work with teammates and coaches can prove to be problematic. At least that seemed to be the case for the San Diego Padres in years past.

The last WBC was held in 2023 and that was supposed to be the year the Padres were going to coast into the playoffs, blow through the postseason and claim the first World Series Championship in franchise history for San Diego. That proved not to be the case, in fact the Padres struggled to win just 83 games and missed the playoffs completely. The team never seemed to come together under then manager Bob Melvin despite having Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr., Xander Bogaerts and Juan Soto on the roster and in the same lineup.

The concern about Padres players competing in the WBC is not just about how they will mesh with their teammates and makeup for lost time building camaraderie, there are also the overwhelming health concerns. Playing baseball is going to come with a risk of injury but when you have this kind of competition and players pushing themselves to perform at a high level earlier than they normally do, it increases the injury potential. The New York Mets lost their closer, Edwin Diaz, for the 2023 season when he was injured celebrating a win during a WBC contest. He was not doing anything that was inherently hazardous to his health, but he was injured all the same.

Don’t get me wrong, I like the WBC and I will watch the games because its real baseball being played by some of the best athletes in the sport. I will do so nervously if Machado, Tatis Jr., Bogaerts, Mason Miller or any of the other Padres competing for their respective countries has a misstep, an extra circular motion of their arm or a slight wince following a swing.

It is with this information and these concerns in mind that Gaslamp Ball poses this question for this week’s Padres Reacts Survey. How do you feel about Padres players competing in the WBC? Results of the poll will be posted later in the week.