Former Stanislaus State ace Joe Ryan will be representing the Stars and Stripes for the second time in his career this spring.
Ryan, an All-Star for the Minnesota Twins who pitched for the Warriors in 2018, recently accepted an invitation to pitch for the United States in the 2026 World Baseball Classic. The 29-year-old was officially announced as a roster addition last Wednesday. He will join a rotation that features 2025 Cy Young Award winners Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Tarik Skubal of the Detroit Tigers, as well as San Francisco Giants ace and Rocklin native Logan Webb.
Team USA will be managed by former big leaguer Mark DeRosa for the second straight WBC, and captained by three-time Most Valuable Player and Linden native Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees. Also representing the country will be Seattle Mariners All-Star and 2025 AL MVP runner-up Cal Raleigh, a former farmhand on the 2019 Modesto Nuts.
Ryan authored one of the most dominant pitching seasons in Stan State history in 2018. The right-hander was named CCAA Pitcher of the Year, West Region Pitcher of the Year, and earned First Team All-American honors from CoSIDA, ABCA, and NCBWA while also being selected to the All-CCAA First Team. Following the standout season, he was drafted in the seventh round (210th overall) of the 2018 MLB Draft by the Tampa Bay Rays. Ryan will be inducted into the Warrior Athletics Hall of Fame on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026 at the Stan State Event Center in Turlock.
It was as a member of the Rays organization that Ryan embarked to Tokyo to represent the United States at the 2021 Summer Olympic Games, in which the Americans earned a silver medal. It was also in Japan where Ryan learned he was a part of a blockbuster trade that sent him to the Minnesota Twins and star slugger Nelson Cruz to Tampa Bay.
Ryan made his big league debut on Sept. 1, 2021, and quickly emerged as a cornerstone of the club's rotation. Since then, he has compiled a 46–36 career record with a 3.79 ERA, 719 strikeouts, and a 1.06 WHIP across 641 innings pitched, including a 13-win, 3.42 ERA All-Star campaign in 2025. He surpassed 190 strikeouts for the second time in three seasons in 2025 and posted 3.1 FanGraphs WAR for the second consecutive year. His 22.5 percent strikeout-minus-walk rate ranked fourth among qualified MLB pitchers, trailing only Skenes, Skubal, and Boston Red Sox star Garrett Crochet.
Raleigh, meanwhile, put together one of the best seasons in the history of baseball in 2025.
This season, Raleigh, nicknamed “The Big Dumper,” slashed .247/.359/.589 with 147 hits, 110 runs, 60 home runs and 125 RBI, a campaign that earned him a runner-up finish in the American League MVP race to Judge. Raleigh’s 60 home runs were a new single-season record by a catcher, which was 12 more than the previous record set by Kansas City Royals captain Salvador Perez in 2021.
A first-time All-Star at age 28, Raleigh fittingly became the first switch-hitter and first catcher to win the Home Run Derby, which he accomplished back in July. Locally, he was the fourth Modesto minor league alumnus to win the annual power display, joining former Modesto Athletics standouts Mark McGwire in 1992 (Oakland A’s), Jason Giambi in 2002 (New York Yankees) and Miguel Tejada in 2004 (Baltimore Orioles).
Back in 2019, Raleigh spent most of the season with the Class-A Modesto Nuts as a top prospect for the M’s, playing in 82 games and slashing .261/.336/.535/.871 with 81 hits, including 22 home runs and 66 RBI.
As of Friday afternoon, there were still nine roster spots needing to be filled by the Americans.
The United States, along with five other participating countries, will play exhibition games against Major League Baseball clubs during Spring Training in Arizona on March 3 and 4. Team USA, who lost to Japan in the 2023 WBC championship game, will begin tournament play in Pool B on March 6, facing Brazil at 5 p.m. PT at Daikin Park in Houston.
