Led by nation's 2 best pitchers, Colombia eyes deep run at World Baseball Classic

BRADENTON, Fla. -- Given the way Team Colombia opened the 2023 World Baseball Classic, it was almost hard to believe the way it ended.

The club pulled off a stunning upset of Mexico in its first game of the tournament, seemingly positioning Colombia well in its bid to advance out of pool play for the first time at the World Baseball Classic. That euphoric win, however, proved to be Colombia's lone victory at the 2023 Classic.

The top two teams in each five-team pool advanced to the quarterfinals. The top four teams in each pool automatically qualified for the 2026 WBC.

Colombia, though, finished dead last in Pool C. So while Mexico, the United States, Canada and Great Britain each secured their spot for 2026 three years ago, it was at this time last year that Colombia found itself battling at the World Baseball Classic 2025 Qualifiers for one of the final bids.

• Colombia ready to prove themselves at 2026 World Baseball Classic

Back in Arizona -- the same state in which its 2023 Classic ended so abruptly -- Colombia was placed in a group alongside Brazil, Germany and China. With the top two teams securing a spot in the 2026 World Baseball Classic, Colombia cruised to a perfect 3-0 record while outscoring the opposition 23-1.

Though Colombia may have had to work a little harder just to qualify, it’s using the disappointment from 2023 as a learning experience for ’26.

"We know we just have to keep the same intensity every game and play every game really, really hard," said Colombia infielder Gio Urshela. "We can't sleep on any team, because it's a really short tournament."

Colombia will be competing against Canada, Cuba, Panama and Puerto Rico in Pool A, which is based in San Juan. Similar to last time, Colombia will be tested right out of the gate as it opens play on Friday at 6 p.m. ET on FS1 against host nation Puerto Rico.

"There's going to be a lot of energy. It's going to be a different vibe," Urshela said. "They're going to have a lot of fans cheering and screaming. It's going to be fun."

Colombia knows it will need at least two wins to avoid a similar fate as last time, but its focus isn’t on simply securing a spot in the 2029 WBC. Its goal is to secure a spot in the 2026 quarterfinals.

"We're really confident in what we can do, especially because the pool that we have," Colombia manager José Mosquera said on Tuesday afternoon. "We have similar teams to us. In the past two Classics, we faced teams like USA, Mexico, Dominican Republic -- they are the best in this game."

Competition aside, there's another reason Colombia enters this rendition feeling more confident than ever: Jose Quintana.

Quintana, the winningest Colombian-born pitcher in MLB history, was forced to miss the 2023 World Baseball Classic after sustaining a rib injury in Spring Training. This time, he's the team captain and the opening-game starter for that showdown against Puerto Rico.

"We know the challenge we have in front of us by facing the home team -- I can't imagine what it's going to be like," Mosquera said. "We want to give everything to that game to see if we can start with a win. Obviously, that's why we start with Jose Quintana in the first game."

Colombia's rotation will be anchored by Quintana and Julio Teheran, by far the two most decorated pitchers in the nation's history.

Quintana has 113 big league wins and 1,816 strikeouts. Teheran has 81 wins and 1,260 K's. All other Colombian-born pitchers combined? Forty-two wins and 999 strikeouts.

So it's no surprise that when those guys picked up the phone to recruit some of the younger players to compete in the World Baseball Classic, the response was overwhelmingly positive.

"They just said, 'Hey, we're here and we need you on the team,'" Mosquera said. "And that just made things so much easier."

Teheran got the start in an exhibition against the Pirates on Tuesday at LECOM Park, where he tossed a 1-2-3 inning that included getting No. 1 prospect Konnor Griffin to ground out. The matchup was a perfect setting for Mosquera -- the manager for Pirates High-A affiliate Greensboro -- to get his feet wet as Colombia's new skipper.

"To be honest, it's a dream come true for me -- especially because I've worked for the Pirates the last 10 years," Mosquera said. "So this experience as Colombia's manager coming against the Pirates is something I'm never going to forget in my life."

If Colombia has its way, it won’t be the last lifelong memory the team creates over the next week.

“I feel proud to be Colombian, proud to represent my country,” Urshela said. “I'm blessed to be here."