J-Rod joins list of big names suiting up for Team DR in Classic

The big names just keep rolling onto the Dominican Republic’s roster for the 2026 World Baseball Classic.

The team was already loaded after the likes of Fernando Tatis Jr., Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and many more MLB stars were confirmed earlier this week.

Now you can add five more names to the squad: outfielder Julio Rodríguez, outfielder/infielder Amed Rosario and relief pitchers Carlos Estévez, Gregory Soto and Wandy Peralta. The Dominican Baseball Federation has announced that the quintet will represent the Dominican Republic at the upcoming Classic.

Rodríguez, Estévez and Soto were on Team Dominican Republic’s roster for the 2023 WBC, but J-Rod is the only one of those three who saw any playing time. He went 5-for-18 with a double, three RBIs and nine strikeouts as Team DR failed to advance out of pool play.

The Mariners superstar is coming off of his second career 30-30 season (32 homers and 30 steals) and finished sixth in American League MVP voting last year. Heading into his age-25 campaign, J-Rod has been an All-Star in three of his first four big league seasons.

Rosario, who is entering his 10th big league season, re-signed with the Yankees in December after batting .303 in a 16-game stint with them last year.

Estévez posted a 2.45 ERA across 66 innings in 2025 and led the Majors with 42 saves. He also earned his second All-Star selection. The left-handed Soto is a two-time All-Star as well. He produced a 4.18 ERA over 60 1/3 innings for the Orioles and Mets in ‘25. Peralta, who appeared in a career-high 71 games for the Padres last year, will appear in his first World Baseball Classic.

The Dominican Republic begins play in Pool D of this year’s World Baseball Classic on March 6 against Nicaragua at 7 p.m. ET at loanDepot park in Miami.