Early insights into baseball at Los Angeles 2028

After a hiatus at Paris 2024, baseball-softball is making a fitting return to the Olympics at Los Angeles 2028. Baseball specifically has been featured in the Games six times prior, most recently at Tokyo 2020 where the host nation of Japan took home the gold. With the announcement of baseball’s return to the Olympics, some of the top players in Major League Baseball have expressed their intrigue in participating, though there are still logistical hurdles to be cleared.

Here is relevant information regarding baseball at LA 2028.

Baseball basics

For those unfamiliar with the sport, baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The goal of the game is to score runs by hitting a pitched ball and running around four bases arranged in a diamond shape. A baseball game consists of nine innings with teams taking turns batting and fielding. While the batting team attempts to score runs, the fielding team attempts to prevent runs by getting the batters out.

As previously mentioned, the sport has been featured at the Games six times. Of these six appearances, Cuba has won gold three times, followed by Japan, Republic of Korea and the United States each capturing gold once. It is important to note that in previous Olympics, only amateurs or those professional players who are not on a 40-man Major League Baseball roster participated. However, there could be a push to alter this precedent and include MLB players in the Olympics.

Prior to Tokyo, eight teams played in a round-robin format with the top four teams advancing to a single-elimination round. This round was followed by gold and bronze medal games. Only six teams participated in Tokyo, competing in a round-robin first round which was followed by a double-elimination bracket leading up to the gold and bronze medal matches. It remains to be seen how many teams will participate in 2028 and therefore formatting remains unclear.

“The choice of these five new sports is in line with the American sports culture and will showcase iconic American sports to the world, while bringing international sports to the United States. These sports will make the Olympic Games LA28 unique,” IOC President Thomas Bach said in a statement about the decision. “Their inclusion will allow the Olympic Movement to engage with new athlete and fan communities in the US and globally.”

MLB logistical hurdles for LA 2028

While there is warranted excitement surrounding baseball’s return to the Olympic stage, there are still logistical hurdles that need to be addressed by Major League Baseball in order for professionals to be eligible for the Games. One issue is that the Olympics take place during the middle of the MLB season. That said, other professional leagues, like the WNBA, have found ways to navigate the conflicting schedules to have their stars compete.

“No matter how you put the event together, there would be a significant amount of major league players who would be away from their teams,” Commissioner of the MLB Robert Manfred said to Forbes in 2020. “It would alter the competition in our everyday game. I do not believe our owners would support some sort of a break in our season. Continuity is really important to our competition.”

While there would be deviations from normal processes and scheduling for the league, there is a potential solution that would allow MLB players to represent their respective countries at the Games. The league would likely have to postpone or completely cancel the 2028 All-Star Game, in addition to either decreasing the amount of games played in the season or extending the season later into the calendar year.

While this could be complicated, between player interest and the potential benefits of marketing the game on the international stage, it is likely in the league’s best interest to work towards a solution.

MLB superstars discuss baseball at LA 2028

In the past, Team USA specifically has been built featuring collegiate and minor league baseball stars. However, momentum is building towards MLB pros competing in Los Angeles. In fact, MLBPA executive director Tony Clark alluded to just that during the MLB All-Star Game. Atop the list of players interested is two-time MVP Bryce Harper of the Philadelphia Phillies. The 31 year old was part of Team USA U-18 that won the 2009 Pan Am junior world championships.

“Yes, absolutely and I’ve spoken to numerous people in MLB about it,” he told The Athletic. “I would love to be part of that. We have the World Baseball Classic but it’s not the same. People can say as much as they want but the Olympics is so worldwide. The WBC is great and brings a lot of people together, but the Olympics is something you dream about playing in. If I have a chance to put my nation’s colors on and represent as I did at 18 and 16 then I would love it.”

New York Yankees superstar outfielder Aaron Judge echoed a similar sentiment. The 32 year old appears to be headed toward his second career MVP, currently leading the majors with 57 home runs.

"I'd love to play. If they give us the opportunity -- I don't know what the ruling or anything has come out about that -- but I'm all in on that," Judge told the New York Post. "... There's very few opportunities to get to do that and especially, hopefully, in the prime of my career where I can still do it and make an impact, I'd love to. I've never represented my country before, never got invited to those Team USA (camps as an amateur), never really made the cut for those. Hopefully now I can make the cut."

With two of the biggest names in the sport openly displaying their interest, it’s hard to imagine the league not finding a way to make their wishes a reality - especially with the United States serving as the host nation.