What you need to know about Olympics Softball & Baseball

⚙️How it works: Women’s softball and men’s baseball are returning to the world stage after being nixxed from the 2012 and 2016 Games.

• Softball: Six teams (Australia, Canada, Italy, Japan, Mexico and the United States) play each other once in the group stage, with the top two moving on to the gold medal game and the next two, playing in the bronze medal game. Nice and simple.

• Baseball: Like softball, six teams will compete, starting with a round robin within two, three-team groups. That said, organizers have introduced a slightly confusing and modified double-elimination bracket, so if you’re a visual learner, click here.

👀Who to watch: As two-time reigning softball world champs with a world No. 1 ranking, Team USA is the overwhelming favorite to win gold.

• With major leaguers ineligible to compete, Team USA baseball is world No. 4, so while we’ll be cheering them on, we’ll keep a close eye on No. 1 Japan just in case.

👀Who to watch: As the two-time reigning softball world champs with a world No. 1 ranking, Team USA is the overwhelming favorite to win gold. However, Team Canada has a solid third place ranking and has promised to “put on a show” for us fans at home.

• No Canadian representation in baseball, so we’ll keep our eyes on world No. 4 USA and No. 1 Japan instead.

⏰When to watch:

• July 21st, 22nd, 24th to 26th: Softball group stage

• July 27th: Softball medal games

• July 28th to 31st: Baseball group stage

• August 1st to 5th: Baseball knockout round

• August 7th: Baseball medal games