Israel back in the World Baseball Classic? It’s a whole megillah.

Six years after winning its first four games and making a surprise run to the second round with its “Mensch on the Bench” mascot, Israel returns to the World Baseball Classic trying to make noise among global powers and tournament favorites — from the United States to Japan to the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.

The Team Israel roster, which includes 14 players with major league experience, is a map of the Jewish diaspora. Under WBC rules, players may play for a team if they are eligible to become citizens, and Israel allows any Jewish person — or child or grandchild of Jewish people — to become citizens. That encompasses players such as Giants outfielder Joc Pederson, ex-Mets infielder Ty Kelly, Orthodox Jewish Diamondbacks draft pick Jacob Steinmetz and 44-year-old Israeli-born sidearmer Shlomo Lipetz.

Israel opens play in the loaded Group D on Sunday at noon (FS2) against Nicaragua. Orioles right-hander Dean Kremer gets the ball for Israel.

To get a sense of how Team Israel came together and check the vibes around the team, we chatted with catcher Garrett Stubbs, who also is expected to see time at third base and possibly left field in the tournament.

Stubbs, a 29-year-old native of San Diego, spent 2019-21 as a reserve catcher with the Astros, reaching two World Series and once getting eliminated in Game 7 of the ALCS. In 2022, he joined the Phillies, hitting .264 with five homers in 46 games backing up J.T. Realmuto — and reaching yet another World Series.

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

How did you wind up on Team Israel?

Garrett Stubbs: In 2017, when they were going to the WBC then, Peter Kurz, the GM, reached out to me about playing. And it was my first big league camp, and unfortunately I felt like timing was a little off. I felt like I needed to be in front of my coaching staff in Houston, and so it didn’t work out.

This year, he reached out to me a few months ago about playing. I think it was maybe in September of last year. And Sam Fuld, our GM, he played for Team Israel in the last WBC, and so talking to him, he said that it was something that I absolutely should do. Hearing the motivation from him, having played in the WBC for Team Israel, it felt like a no-brainer to come over here and play for Team Israel.

Were you then following Israel’s run in 2017?

GS: Yeah, no doubt, I was following along from a distance.

I think it’s a really good thing to spread the sport around the world. Israel, though, it’s not as big of a sport. We have a few Israelis on the team who talk about the fact that most Israelis, if you told them that there was one out, they don’t know what that means. But things like this can spread the game around the world. I think that’s good for the sport no matter what.

If you can get the best players, no matter where they’re from, that makes the sport better. It’s pretty cool to be able to be a part of that.

Have you been to Israel? What has it been like being on this team where that’s a common bond?

GS: I haven’t been to Israel. I believe my birthright [eligibility for a birthright trip] has surpassed — think it’s 26 is the deadline. It’s tough to take vacation ever with the baseball schedule we have, especially being lucky enough with the Astros and Phillies to make deep playoff runs; our offseason gets cut short to about three months. So it’s something that I will do at some point in my life — visit Israel. I don’t know if it will be in the near future, just because of our baseball schedule — at least I hope not, I hope I’m playing this game for a while — but it will be something I do.

You know, we have Shlomo Lipitz on the team who was born in Israel and now lives in Brooklyn. Just seeing guys that have been to Israel, grew up in Israel, were born in Israel, it’s something I don’t think I’ve ever felt as connected to until being on this team.

How would you describe your relationship with Judaism growing up?

GS: I was bar mitzvah-ed. I grew up with a Jewish mother [Marti] who raised me and my brother [C.J] Jewish, and just growing up, going to Hebrew school on Wednesdays, Sunday school on Sundays. We both had bar mitzvahs at age 13. We aren’t necessarily practicing Jews anymore, but it was something that for both of us, was a huge part of our life.

I remember going to Sunday school and wearing my jersey and uniform because Sunday school was from 9-11 and I would have a baseball game later that day at like 1 or 2. So I’d go straight from Sunday school wearing my jersey to class or to service and then going straight to my game later that day.  

With the Astros and Phillies, you’ve been with two of New York’s biggest rivals. What were your experiences in those rivalries?

GS: We had some pretty incredible games there with the Yankees when I was with Houston, some of which will be replayed on MLB Network for probably my whole life. Moments like [Jose] Altuve hitting that homer off Aroldis Chapman that sent us to the World Series. Getting to experience that and now getting to experience the rivalry that the Mets and the Phillies have … in my opinion, Northeast baseball is the best brand of baseball around the world. It’s hard-nosed, the fans are into it, they’re educated on what’s going on, they understand the magnitude of situations. So it’s going to be pretty cool to be part of that kind of baseball for the coming years.

Watching the Mets build what they’re trying to build as a dynasty and what we’re trying to build over here in Philly as a dynasty, so for that to be in the same division, and throw the Braves in there, too — the NL East is absolutely loading up with the best players in the world. So it’s going to be really fun to watch our division go after each other this year.

You’re on an incredible run of being on pennant-winning teams almost every year — but haven’t won a World Series.

GS: I feel like I’ve been super fortunate to be on all these talented teams, for one. And for two, like you said, I haven’t won that final game. Yet. And I do believe it’s in our future with the Phillies. We have such a good team over there, and I look forward to going out there this season with a little bit of experience under our belt. I think that creates some good confidence. Obviously in Houston, we had a really good run over there.

And then you go into camp with Team Israel and you’re the underdogs in a pretty loaded Group D. Is that a different mentality?    

GS: Philadelphia was an underdog last year. Obviously, we signed some guys in the offseason, but Philly hadn’t been to the playoffs since 2008, so we were an underdog last year going into the season and ended up in the World Series.

And as far as Team Israel goes, the Jewish community is kind of seen as an underdog in general and we’re a minority group, and going into a baseball pool that is basically built with the juggernauts of baseball around the world, seeing Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Venezuela in your pool, I think excites a lot of guys. We’re going to get to play against the best guys in the world, and I think that’s the only thing you can really ask for whether it’s in any sort of tournament or in-season in the big leagues.

I think it’s a really cool opportunity for Israel to show we can play baseball and we’ve got a lot of really good players on this team. And I think people will be surprised by the brand of baseball that we can bring to this pool. That’s not me promising any sort of wins, but I think it’ll be fun to watch us play and go up against three of the best countries, as far as baseball goes, in the world.

Team Israel is managed by Ian Kinsler, with Brad Ausmus as the bench coach and Kevin Youkilis as the hitting coach. What’s it been like to be around those guys?

GS: That was one of the biggest things I was looking forward to, besides meeting my teammates, was the fact that we have [them] as our staff. So those guys being on our staff makes it pretty f–king awesome, to be able to talk to those guys and pick their brains.

It’s awesome to be able to just be in the same locker room as them, have some fun, shoot the s–t basically. Hearing stories about Youkilis being on the Red Sox and Ausmus being on the Astros and then managing the Tigers, all sorts of stuff like that. Kinsler, I don’t know if he’ll make the Hall of Fame, but I was looking at his numbers, man, he’s a borderline Hall of Famer with the career that he had. Being able to share the kind of person that he is, the kind of experiences that he’s had in this game, to me, that’s my favorite part of doing things like this. 

What have your experiences been so far with fans of Team Israel and people who have come out to support the team?

GS: It’s been really cool to see the following that Team Israel does have. It might not be as big as Puerto Rico or Dominican Republic or the US, but those people that are following, if they’re following, they’re diehards. They’re here to watch us play baseball, obviously they want us to win, but I think there’s a serious sense of pride when they see an Israeli team out there, a Jewish team out there, playing baseball. It probably hits home for a lot of people a little bit more than other sports teams.      

Give skeptical fans the pitch for why the World Baseball Classic is worth watching, worth investing their time in as a baseball fan.

GS: I don’t think there’s anything more gratifying than playing for your country. You watch games during the season, and whether people like to say it or not, everyone’s out there definitely trying to win championships and win baseball games, but people are also trying to feed their families.

For people playing in MLB, it’s winning championships and it’s also a career and making sure they’re making money out there. For the WBC, none of us are making money doing this. People are out there because they love playing baseball, they’re some of the best players in the world, and they want to win for their country and give their country something to root for. And when you’re doing that, you get a different brand of baseball. Sometimes it can be more exciting than watching a Major League Baseball game.