Ryan Long’s journey back to the World Baseball Classic began long before he stepped on the mound in Houston. It started with a memory: a 23-year-old from a small liberal arts program staring down Mike Trout in 2023 and punching out a future Hall of Famer in his very first WBC appearance for Great Britain.
Three years later, the Sagehen was back under the lights—and he looked like he belonged there.
Now 26, Long returned to the international stage last month and delivered exactly what Great Britain needed from him: two scoreless innings of relief across a pair of outings, calm in the chaos of pool play against baseball’s heavyweights. Great Britain finished behind Italy, Team USA and Mexico, but the objective wasn’t just to survive the group. It was to secure a place at the next World Baseball Classic.
They did that. The Union Jack will fly at the next edition of the 20-team, triennial tournament. Long had a hand in it.
“It was an unbelievable experience,” he says. The words land differently now. This isn’t a wide-eyed rookie soaking in the moment. This is a pitcher who’s spent four years facing high-level hitters and come away convinced of something vital: “I know I can get any hitter out.”
That belief showed. He moved with more certainty on the mound, attacked with more conviction, trusted his stuff. The nerves of 2023 had given way to a sharper edge, the kind that only comes from bus rides, back fields, and the grind of minor league seasons.
The setting, though, still felt unique. Great Britain’s 30-man roster in Houston was a tapestry of baseball and heritage, stitched together from England and Wales, the Bahamas, Scotland, the British Virgin Islands. Long’s own tie runs through his mother, Liz, who was born in England. This is how a kid from Pomona-Pitzer ends up wearing United Kingdom colors on one of the sport’s biggest stages.
“You try and get to know these guys as fast as possible, find ways to connect, and then go play four really meaningful games with them,” Long says. It sounds simple. It isn’t. In a matter of days, strangers become teammates, and teammates carry a flag.
“It’s a unique experience, but it’s amazing. I love it.”
The WBC has always sold itself as a showcase of the sport at its best—emotion, noise, national pride wrapped around 60 feet, 6 inches. Long has now lived that twice. “The World Baseball Classic is such a special tournament and one that really showcases the best of baseball,” he says. “It was an honor to be a part of it again.”
The international buzz fades quickly, though. The minor league calendar does not wait.
Drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in 2021, Long opened his sixth professional season on Thursday, April 2, a long way from the roar of international crowds and the flashbulbs of a global tournament. After brief tastes of Triple-A Norfolk in 2024 and 2025, he began the 2026 campaign with the Orioles’ Double-A affiliate, the Chesapeake Baysox, in Bowie, Maryland.
That detail matters. Double-A is often where organizations separate depth from true prospects, and Long is now in the middle of that sorting process—while undergoing a significant shift in his role.
A starter for most of his career, he spent this spring training learning a new life out of the bullpen. New routines. New mindset. New urgency. No pacing yourself through six innings. No saving bullets.
“It’s been a good change,” he says. The numbers on the radar gun back him up. Shorter stints have given his fastball a jolt, and with relief work comes a simpler directive: lean on your best weapons and fire them, again and again.
“I’ve seen my velocity go up, and I can concentrate on throwing my best pitches as often as possible rather than trying to mix them and get through a lineup multiple times.”
For a 6-foot-6 right-hander with strikeout memories of Mike Trout in his back pocket and fresh WBC zeros on the ledger, that streamlined approach might be exactly what his career needs.
“I feel confident and encouraged going into the year,” Long says. The word “confident” keeps surfacing around him now, not as bravado but as a steady drumbeat. He knows the window. He knows the stakes. And he knows what this role change could mean.
“I’m hoping this change gives me a streamlined and efficient route to the major leagues.”
From Pomona-Pitzer to Great Britain, from Trout to Double-A bus rides, Long has already taken the scenic route. The next question is the only one that matters: can this new path out of the bullpen finally carry him all the way to Baltimore?
