Brewers young stars to battle it out under the bright lights of the WBC championship

After what has been one of the best iterations of the World Baseball Classic in the 20-year history of the international tournament, two teams are left standing for tonight's championship game: Team USA and Team Venezuela.

The two squads enter the tournament in very different positions. Team USA was one of the favorites heading into the WBC, with a roster full of perennial All-Stars and MVP candidates. Meanwhile, Venezuela was seen as something of a dark horse in the tournament, meaning, despite having a roster full of talented big leaguers, not many were picking them to win the whole thing. In that regard, the pressure is certainly on the United States, who haven't won the WBC championship since 2017. Venezuela, on the other hand, has never reached the title game.

While the much-anticipated WBC championship game doesn't necessarily require an extra motivation to tune in tonight (at 7:00 p.m. CT on FOX), Milwaukee Brewers fans will have the pleasure of watching four of their players compete for the honor of calling themselves a World Baseball Classic champion.

Though William Contreras has been substituted out of Team Venezuela's lineup for Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez, Jackson Chourio will bat ninth and man center field in Venezuela's quest for their first WBC title. Meanwhile, Brice Turang will bat eighth and play second base for Team USA tonight as they look to avenge their loss to Team Japan in the 2023 title game.

Brice Turang and Jackson Chourio are in the lineups for tonight's WBC championship, William Contreras is not

Team USA manager Mark DeRosa faced a difficult decision when constructing his lineup for tonight's championship game. Team Venezuela is throwing a lefty, Eduardo Rodriguez, but DeRosa's best options to round out his infield -- Gunnar Henderson and Turang -- are both left-handed. The two have been rotating into the lineup with Alex Bregman, who has struggled throughout the WBC. However, with the southpaw on the mound, DeRosa is opting for Bregman at third base and Turang at second to start the game tonight, though it's very likely Henderson enters the contest at some point.

Meanwhile, Team Venezuela's manager, Omar López, is making some slight changes to the lineup that he rolled out in his team's semifinal win over Team Italy last night. The most notable for Brewers fans is López's decision to start the veteran Perez over Contreras behind the dish. While it's frustrating for the Brewers' fanbase, it's hard to fault López for the change. Contreras has yet to find his timing at the plate and remains hitless in the 2026 WBC.

Brewers fans may also see relief arm Ángel Zerpa pitch for Team Venezuela in tonight's game. Zerpa, who the Brewers acquired this offseason from the Kansas City Royals, hasn't allowed a run in four outings during the WBC, but he did pitch last night, so it remains to be seen if he's available tonight.

Whether or not Contreras and Zerpa get into tonight's game, Brewers fans will have the pleasure of watching two of their young stars -- Chourio and Turang -- battle it out under the bright lights in the WBC championship. Chourio and Turang are likely to be the top two hitters in the Brewers' lineup this year. Expectations are sky-high for both of them, and each could find their way to the All-Star Game for the first time in their careers in 2026. While the game tonight will be plenty exciting as is, seeing the present and future of Brewers baseball on one of the biggest stages in the sport is an added bonus for the Milwaukee faithful.