2026 Women's Pro Baseball League season
| 2026 WPBL season | |
|---|---|
| League | Women's Pro Baseball League |
| Sport | Baseball |
| Duration | Regular season:
|
| Games | 15 |
| Teams | 4 |
| TV partner | ESPN+ |
| Streaming partner(s) | ESPN app Scripps Sports Network YouTube |
| Draft | |
| Top draft pick | Kelsie Whitmore |
| Picked by | San Francisco Firebells |
| Regular season | |
| Postseason | |
The 2026 Women's Pro Baseball League season began on August 1 with the inaugural fixture in league history where the New York Heights hosted the Los Angeles Queens. The regular season is scheduled to end on September 6. The postseason will begin on September 9.[1][2] The WPBL Championship Series will begin on September 16 and will end with Game 5 (if necessary) on September 22.[1][3]
Schedule
The Women's Pro Baseball League released its 2026 schedule on April 30, 2026.[4] Each team will play 15 regular season games. Each team is scheduled to play five games against every other team. From Saturday, August 1 through Sunday, September 6, with the exception of all Mondays and Tuesdays, one game will be played at 6:30 PM CDT, though three Saturdays (August 8, 15, and 27) will feature two games at 1:00 PM and 6:30 PM CDT.[1] The Semi-Final round will begin on September 9 and conclude, at the latest, on September 14. The WPBL Championship Series will begin on September 16.[3]
The regular season started on August 1, with the New York Heights hosting the Los Angeles Queens.
Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco Firebells | 6 | 4 | .600 | — | 3–2 | 3–2 |
| New York Heights | 5 | 5 | .500 | 1 | 0–5 | 5–0 |
| Los Angeles Queens | 5 | 5 | .500 | 1 | 3–1 | 2–4 |
| Boston Hunters | 4 | 6 | .400 | 2 | 1–5 | 3–1 |
|
Source: WPBL Schedule | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BOS | LA | NY | SF | ||||||||||||
| Boston | — | 1–2 | 3–2 | 0–2 | ||||||||||||
| Los Angeles | 2–1 | — | 1–1 | 2–3 | ||||||||||||
| New York | 2–3 | 1–1 | — | 2–1 | ||||||||||||
| San Francisco | 2–0 | 3–2 | 1–2 | — | ||||||||||||
Updated with the results of all games through August 23, 2026.
Managerial changes
In-season
| Team | Former manager | Reason for leaving | New manager | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Hunters | Keith Foulke | Fired | Jemile Weeks | On August 9, after a 1–2 (.333) start to the season, the Hunters replaced Keith Foulke with Jemile Weeks, effective immediately, 30 minutes prior to their fourth game of the season.[5][6] |
League leaders
(Updated through August 23)
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| AVG | Denae Benites (NY) | .658 |
| OPS | Denae Benites (NY) | 1.998 |
| HR | Denae Benites (NY) Kelsie Whitmore (SF) |
8 |
| RBI | Denae Benites (NY) | 25 |
| R | Denae Benites (NY) | 17 |
| H | Denae Benites (NY) | 25 |
| SB | Denae Benites (NY) | 11 |
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| W | Jill Albayati (SF) Liz Gilder (SF) Jaida Lee (NY) Michelle Roche (LA) Claire O'Sullivan (NY) |
2 |
| L | Alli Schroder (BOS) Raine Padgham (BOS) |
2 |
| ERA | Jill Albayati (SF) | 1.80 |
| K | Jaida Lee (NY) | 19 |
| IP | Gigi Schiano (BOS) | 19.0 |
| SV | none | 0 |
| WHIP | Meggie Meidlinger (LA) | 1.24 |
Venues
Every game this season took place at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield, Illinois.[7]
Uniforms
Along with team identities, all team uniforms were revealed on July 8, 2026.[8] Each team revealed a home, away, and an alternate uniform inspired by their team namesakes.
Media
Television
National
On July 30, ESPN announced that they secured media rights for all regular season and postseason games in the United States and U.S. territories, while Scripps Sports Network announced they will play 11 games on their network.[9][10]
International
On July 31, the WPBL announced that outside the United States, all games will be streamed for free on YouTube.[11]
References
- 1 2 3 "Schedule". Women's Pro Baseball League. Retrieved August 9, 2026.
- ↑ Licht, Jaclyn (August 8, 2026). "The Women's Professional Baseball League makes its historic debut". NPR. Retrieved August 9, 2026.
- 1 2 Jenkins, Keith. "2026 Women's Pro Baseball League: Where to watch, schedule, more". www.espn.com. Retrieved August 20, 2026.
- ↑ de Boer, Nathanael. "2026 WPBL Inaugural Season Schedule Available Now". Women's Pro Baseball League. Retrieved August 10, 2026.
- ↑ Campbell, Lauren (August 10, 2026). "Former Red Sox World Series champion out as manager of Boston Hunters after 3 games". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved August 10, 2026.
- ↑ Healy, Emma (August 12, 2026). "Why was Keith Foulke fired by the Women's Pro Baseball League after three games? Here's what we learned". The Boston Globe. ISSN 0743-1791. Retrieved August 13, 2026.
- ↑ Cohen, Jay (August 2, 2026). "Women's Pro Baseball League has strong contingent of international players for inaugural season". AP News. Retrieved August 9, 2026.
- ↑ Caputo, Paul (July 8, 2026). "Women's Professional Baseball League unveils teams for inaugural season - SportsLogos.Net News". Retrieved August 10, 2026.
- ↑ Shirey, Grayson (July 30, 2026). "ESPN secures media rights to Women's Pro Baseball League, bringing full season and playoffs to ESPN starting August 1 - ESPN Press Room". Retrieved August 10, 2026.
- ↑ Thames, Alanis (July 30, 2026). "WPBL secures media rights deal with ESPN and Scripps Sports Network for inaugural season". AP News. Retrieved August 10, 2026.
- ↑ WPBL. "Where to Watch the 2026 WPBL Inaugural Season". Women's Pro Baseball League. Retrieved August 10, 2026.