Chinese Taipei vs. Australia Prediction, Odds, Probable Pitchers for World Baseball Classic

The 2026 World Baseball Classic gets underway late on Wednesday night with Chinese Taipei taking on Australia.

It’s a 12 p.m. local start time in Tokyo on Wednesday, which makes it a 10 p.m. ET start time on the East Coast.

Neither of these teams are expected to go very far, especially in Pool C with Japan, but anything can happen in a short tournament like this one.

Here are the odds, probable pitchers, and predictions for Chinese Taipei vs. Australia on Wednesday night.

Chinese Taipei vs. Australia Odds & Run Line

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook

Moneyline

Chinese Taipei -215
Australia +175

Run Line

Chinese Taipei -2.5 (+100)
Australia +2.5 (-125)

Chinese Taipei vs. Australia Probable Pitchers

Chinese Taipei: Jo-Hsi Hsu
Australia: Alexander Wells

Chinese Taipei vs. Australia How to Watch

Date: Wednesday, March 4
Time: 10:00 p.m. ET
Venue: Tokyo Dome
How to Watch (TV): FS1

Chinese Taipei vs. Australia Prediction and Pick

Let’s start here with the pitching matchup.

Jo-Hsi Hsu gets the ball for Chinese Taipei. He’s spent the last few years with Wei Chuan in the CPBL, going 5-7 with a 2.05 ERA and 120 strikeouts in 114 innings across 19 starts last season. He also pitched in two World Baseball Classic Qualifiers, allowing one run (a home run) on three hits while striking out five and walking two in 3.2 innings.

Australia’s Alexander Wells is more known to baseball fans. He pitched for the Baltimore Orioles in 2021 and 2022, allowing 34 runs in 46.1 innings (6.60 ERA) with 32 strikeouts and 16 walks in 13 games (8 starts). He’s been pitching in Australia for the last two years, going 6-1 with a 1.55 ERA in the 2024-25 season and 5-3 with a 3.42 ERA this past campaign.

There is no distinct edge there. Hsu has better numbers, but Wells has the experience of pitching in the majors and has settled in nicely in Australia. I’m not so sure that there is going to be a huge difference between these two starters when they take the mound to open the 2026 World Baseball Classic

I was going to simply go with Chinese Taipei on the moneyline, but that was before the run line opened for this game. In an early game in the tournament between two teams fighting to simply get out of their pool, I’ll back the underdog getting 2.5 runs at a cheap -125 price.

Pick: Australia +2.5 (-125)

Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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