Brazil bringing MLB sons and family connections to World Baseball Classic

When World Baseball Classic rosters were announced on Feb. 5, the headlines naturally gravitated towards the tournament’s biggest stars – rosters filled with MLB All-Stars, MVPs and Cy Young Award winners. But beneath those marquee names, a different kind of storyline emerged on Team Brazil.

While Brazil’s roster does not include an active Major League player, it does feature something compelling: three players with famous baseball last names, each at a different stage in their career.

Dante Bichette Jr., son of four-time All-Star Dante Bichette, played in the 2017 qualifiers alongside his brother, Bo Bichette, and helped lead Brazil through the 2026 WBC qualifying tournament with five runs in four games, securing the team’s spot. His bat and leadership will help guide the youngest members of Brazil’s roster.

Lucas Ramirez, son of 12-time All-Star slugger Manny Ramirez, and Joseph Contreras, son of longtime MLB pitcher José Contreras, will both make their official WBC tournament debuts in Houston. All three carry their fathers’ baseball genes, but their spot on Team Brazil? That came from their mothers.

Born on Jan. 16, 2006, Ramirez grew up around the game. By then, his father was with the Boston Red Sox and had just been the 2004 World Series MVP a few years earlier. The youngest of Manny’s three sons, Lucas was selected in the 17th round of the 2024 MLB Draft by the Angels and, in 2025, reached the Angels’ High-A affiliate, the Tri-City Dust Devils.

On the field, the comparisons to Manny are inevitable, but not always obvious. The younger Ramirez bats left-handed, while his father was one of the most feared right-handed hitters of his generation. With the Dominican Republic’s roster stacked with outfield talent like Julio Rodríguez, Juan Soto and Fernando Tatis Jr., Brazil offered Lucas a clear path to international competition. And so far, that has paid off for Team Brazil.

He went 5-for-13 during the WBC Qualifier and could be a surprising threat at the tournament for Brazil. Besides his bat, he also has the chops in the outfield.

“He’s a fast athlete, defensively speaking. We already saw that he has what it takes,” Team Brazil manager Daniel Yuichi Matsumoto told MLB.com last March, highlighting Ramirez’s range and instincts defensively. When Ramirez takes the field, he’ll wear No. 24 as a nod to his father’s legacy, but this March, he’ll have the chance to start truly building his own.

If Ramirez represents the next chapter of a legendary hitter’s lineage, Contreras offers a glimpse into the future of power pitching. His father made 299 appearances over 11 seasons from 2003-13, pitching for five teams and establishing himself as a durable, hard-throwing presence looming on the mound at 6-foot-4.

At 17 years old, the younger Contreras has inherited that frame, and is already showing he inherited the arm, too. Born on May 6, 2008, Contreras is the youngest player on any WBC roster. A student at Blessed Trinity Catholic High School in Roswell, Georgia, the right-handed pitcher has already committed to play Division 1 baseball at Vanderbilt University, one of the premier development programs in the country.

After topping out at 91 mph in 2024, Contreras worked at 92-95 and peaked at 98 with his four-seam fastball last summer. He already boasts a deep arsenal that includes a curveball, changeup and forkball, the latter a pitch he learned from his father.

“That was the first pitch I learned to throw,” Joseph told MLB.com’s Scott Merkin last February.

For Brazil, adding a 17-year-old with Draft buzz is a significant get. Contreras is currently ranked No. 47 on the 2026 Draft prospects list, though teams will have to lure him away from Vanderbilt. Before any of those decisions need to be made, though, he gets a chance few teenagers ever see – facing professional hitters on an international stage, with his family watching.

“I’m proud of not only the pitcher but the young man that he’s become,” his father José told Merkin recently. “I’m going to start preparing right now because I don’t want to cry in front of everyone."

When Brazil takes the field in Houston on March 6 to face tournament favorite Team USA, the odds will be stacked against them. Brazil has never won a WBC game, and Pool B offers no easy outs with tough opponents like Mexico and Italy also in the mix. But with a roster that blends MLB lineage, emerging talent and veteran leadership, Brazil’s first WBC win may finally be within reach.