Having the chance to play baseball at any affiliate level, let alone Major League Baseball, is a feat that most never achieve. The chance to play for and represent a nation of your heritage is something that even less have the chance to do, but one that many feel called to should the opportunity ever arise.
As the 2026 FIFA World Cup draws to a close, one cannot help but think about the 2026 World Baseball Classic earlier this year which took the sports world by storm. Some of the game’s biggest stars playing on its biggest stages is always a sight to see, but what these tournaments bring are chances for even more memorable moments from less-than-household names that are then remembered forever.
Three members of the 2026 Reno Aces had that chance in February and March of this year, as outfielder Kristian Robinson, left-handed pitcher Yu-Min Lin, and Bench Coach Jordan Procyshen each donned the uniform of a nation that took the field during the 2026 World Baseball Classic.
“It’s an honor to wear the country’s jersey and to fight for your country,” Lin said of the opportunity to play for Team Chinese Taipei. “In Taiwan, it’s a little different, we’re an island so we’re just a small country.
A member of the Chinese Taipei national team previously for tournaments such as the WBSC Premier12, it was not the first time that Lin had played with his teammates or for his national team coaches, even if it would be the first time on a stage as large as this.
Unique to this season was that World Baseball Classic and its preparations took place into Spring Training, and while Lin was appreciative of the ample time he had to adjust for his national team coaching staff, he said he tried not to get too far ahead of the task at hand as he had been invited to Major League Camp with the Arizona Diamondbacks for Spring Training.
It took Robinson a little while for it to sink in that he had finally been selected to play for the Great Britain national team. It had been an accomplishment he had been chasing since 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic forced an end to the qualifiers.
Robinson was then again on the short list of those to make the team in 2023, but it unfortunately never came to be. But the desire never left him, and when Brad Marcelino took over as manager, the dream became much more within reach.
“When he took on the manager role he started to communicate with me last year about my interest in playing with the team,” Robinson said. “I immediately told him ‘Yeah, I would be into it, 100 percent.’ So yeah, it was definitive for me to be a part of it, it was just a matter of time for it to become possible.
“It was surreal, I think being granted part of the team and making the roster, I didn’t really know too much about the intricacies of roster construction and making the cut,” Robinson continued. “So, when I heard the news initially it didn’t hit as you would expect it would, but once it settled in and I realized I that I was a part of something that was lucrative, there was a lot of pride around our guys on the field and behind the scenes.
Procyshen also had some familiarity with the staff, having already served on the squad at the prior World Baseball Classic in 2023 when Team Canada was stationed in Phoenix, Arizona at Chase Field. It was quite the group, that 2023 Pool C, as Canada slugged it out with Mexico, the USA, Great Britain, and Colombia.
“I wasn’t quite done playing yet, but I’ve been with the senior national team since 2019,” Procyshen said. “They have the same coaching staff, so it’s been great communication with Greg Hamilton, who’ve I’ve known since 2017, and Ernie Whitt for years now.”
Originally born in the Bahamas, Robinson found his path to the World Baseball Classic running through the U.K. with Great Britain. Both of Robinson’s grandparents had been born in the Bahamas prior to gaining their independence as a nation, which through the bylaws allowed Robinson the privilege to play under the British flag.
For as big as the world of baseball is, it seemed that all players and coaches of any flag shared the same feeling of being one of the few asked to represent and fight for a country on a global scale.
“My ambition to play with the team was behind seeing guys I looked up to playing before me, as well as the gratification that I was asked by the federation to play for the team,” Robinson said. “There’s a sense of pride there for me, just wanting to represent a country.”
“You ask any of those guys about playing in the World Baseball Classic and they’ll tell you the same, it doesn’t matter where you’re from or what team you’re playing on, we’re all from Canada,” Procyshen said. “We just want to be together and fight for our country.”
“Every time when I play, I’m proud of myself because it is not easy to make the team,” Lin said. “There’s so many playing baseball, and only maybe 20-30 can wear this jersey (on one team) in their life. Every time when I go and play, I try to be my best, because I want to let everyone else know where this team is from.”
None of the three between Robinson, Lin and Procyshen have ever played in MLB, meaning this was the biggest stage they have been on in their respective baseball careers (outside of Procyshen’s previous World Baseball Classic experience from 2023). Having the chance to travel around the globe, such as Team Canada playing in San Juan, Puerto Rico, or Team Great Britain taking the field at the home of the Houston Astros of Daikan Field in Houston, Texas, on a global stage was like being in a whole new world.
“The game has grown from 2023 the game between U.S.A. and Mexico, those were loud indoors there at Chase Field,” Procyshen said. “Our game [in 2026] against Puerto Rico was loud. Very, very loud. They knew that they had already clinched, so it was not the ‘A’ versus ‘A’ lineups, but it was still the country’s best. The environment that game was outstanding, and being a part of that on the field, in the bullpen, it’s loud and everything is quick. You have to make sure you’re clear-headed and can control your emotions.”
“Mexico really set the tone in that first game, because they came out strong and they had a lot of support in the stands,” Robinson said. “You could feel and hear it, and when the pressure rose, they were on top of you. That was the coolest [thing] about the tournament, from Mexico to Brazil in game four, everyone just wanted to see their team win, and you could hear it throughout the game.
“I had actually mentioned this to one of my teammates, I said this kind of reminds me when we would go to international tournaments and play at 12 and 13 years old,” Robinson continued. “It’s just the connection that the fans have with the teams, it was something that you could tell was different. It was so much deeper of an appreciation from the fans for each country’s team, and you could feel that throughout the games.”
Lin played the closest to his home country as Team Chinese Taipei flew to Japan to take on Japan, Korea, Australia and Czechia in Group C. Though it was not in his home stadium, he undoubtedly agreed with the fact that this had been his biggest stage he had played on to date.
“That was the biggest stadium I had played in in my life,” Lin said. “You play in a stadium that’s not your home stadium, but 90 percent of the crowd are all from Taiwan cheering for you. It’s crazy how people like watching and support baseball that much, I can’t put it into words.
“They could just watch on TV, they don’t have to come [in person], but they still showed up so nicely,” Lin continued. “In the Minors it’s a decent crowd but sometimes they don’t know who you are, but there it was like they are actually going there to watch you pitch in a game and say hi to you.”
The dedication of the fans of the fans led to what all three described as some of the best playing environments that they have ever played in, dating all the way back to their time in younger tournaments as kids. Each had a specific moment that they could point back to among their favorites. For some, it came right at the beginning of the tournament in game one.
“That [game against USA] was a big one, the experience of the game alone, though we didn’t come out as we wanted to, lived up to what I expected it to be,” Robinson said. “That atmosphere was unbelievable for that time around Spring Training in early March, so it’s like we’re not ramped up yet at that point, but that moment felt like world series game one. I won’t forget that and I hope to be in that atmosphere again very soon.”
“Playing Australia, even though I was not pitching that game, I was watching,” Lin said. “We did not expect to lose, but we didn’t score any runs. I tear [up] still thinking about it, because if we win the first game, we might make the second round. Their pitchers were dialed into the zone, and the hitters swung aggressively, and Bazzana hit a home run. It was a pretty good game to watch.”
With the schedule released far ahead of time, there was ample room to dream about playing certain opponents, with the dates long marked on a calendar for the eager competitors.
“The USA game was a big one, that was definitely like a circled game in this tournament separately,” Robinson said. “Just the blatant obvious the construction of that team and the guys on that squad, it’s MVP’s and Cy Young Award winners, it’s pretty cool to look at from afar just as a fan of the game. But as well, it was cool to settle into being a competitor in that moment.”
Others had just so many that they found it hard to pick.
“It’s hard to say, playing against anyone is fun,” Procyshen said. But, when pushed further, he admitted, “Playing against Colombia, I’ve got a couple coworkers on that team with [Bench Coach Jhonatan] Solano and [First Base Coach] Jaime [Del Valle] being over there, and [Third Base Coach] Ronald [Ramirez], there’s a little bit of a rivalry with that one.”
“But the biggest game of the tournament for us was the game against Cuba,” Procyshen continued. “That was a game that, obviously beating Puerto Rico was huge, but the game against Cuba was the only one at the end there that mattered. If we lose, we don’t go to Houston. We have always played them tight and hard, so getting that win was huge.”
While the wins and losses are obviously important, more can be gained from these international competitions that benefit both coaches and players alike. For some, it’s about discovering a side of themselves that they want to bring back with them to the regular season.
“I want to be more aggressive, and I want to keep that anger in my body during the season,” Lin said. “Everybody knows that this place [Greater Nevada Field] is not an easy place to pitch in a game, so I want to keep that anger to help me have the strength to pitch even after I’ve walked a guy or given up a homer.
“Playing with [Chinese Taipei], my teammates would say ‘Jimmy you’re so different,’ and the team captain told me how everyone is fired up and they want to win so bad,” Lin continued. “So, I want to bring that energy back here for myself and my team.”
Others relished in the opportunity to learn from others at the top of their game, trying to emulate the strategies they saw both on the playing field and in the dugout.
“I worked pretty closely during the games with our bullpen coach, Paul Quantrill,” Procyshen said. “I’ve known ‘Q’ for seven years now, very level-headed. He thinks along with the game very well and he’s been around forever, obviously, and [he] has had a very successful career. Just being able to pick his brain and his thought process on everything allows me to think about the game a little bit differently.
“There are times where you can get hot headed and allow the emotion to overtake you a little bit, and you can’t do that as a coach," Procyshen continued. "Players will feed off that, so as long as you harness things in the right direction, then you will do right by your players.”
Maybe it was about the all-around experience, a culmination of the hard work with talented staff as well as the game experience with teammates that they had either long known or long admired.
Great teammates always make the experience better, and in an international tournament on the scale such as this, there is no shortage of incredible talent on the field. Of course there were stars up-and-down teams such as the United States, Japan, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, but with the abundance of baseball talent across the world today, no doubt one could say that most rosters were “stacked” with talent.
“Everyone is good but playing with Lyle Lin is the best ever,” Lin said. “I’ve been playing with him for a long time, and he used to be in [the Arizona Diamondbacks system], he’s a great catcher. He’ll talk a lot and he’ll help you with ways when you struggle, he’s a good leader.”
“It was really cool because, Harry Ford, he’s a guy I’ve played against for a number of years now, and so I knew a good amount about Harry,” Robinson said. “I had seen what he had done for the team in 2023, he’s a great guy and teammate, a great player, and even when it’s not going his way you can see him trying to pick up his teammates.
Nate Eaton, I had seen him play for Boston too, but he came up last year,” Robinson continued. “He’s a baller, he can do something special on the field each night, it’s just a matter of when it’s going to happen. I had been around Trayce [Thompson] in 2020, our work back then and we spent time at the alternative site. I had played with him but never really on an official scale. Seeing him, day to day, now it’s been six years since, he hasn’t aged a bit.”
The little time to prepare for the tournament together led the players and coaches to fall back on the bonds that they had established years prior, whether that be as younger kids or if their paths have crossed professionally.
“We had a decent amount of returners from 2023, and I developed a pretty good relationship with Bo [Naylor] back then and carried it over into this past year,” Procyshen said. “It was also pretty cool being around a couple guys I had yet to meet like Jameson Taillon, James Paxton, those were new guys for me. I met Owen Caissie back in 2023 when he made his mark, so being around those guys, it’s a brotherhood.”
“We were around the crew, it felt like a lot of time as it was going on, but it was only roughly a week that we were around each other,” Robinson said. “Our teammates, likewise, especially us Bahamians we knew each other pretty well, and that kind of solidified that support of just having a friend around. But we had never really been around each other baseball wise, so it was interesting to see each other work. We weren’t trying to give advice; it was more sitting back and seeing how each other worked.”
Only one of the three teams advanced from pool play to the knockout stage of the tournament in Team Canada, something that had been a long time coming in the opinion of Procyshen.
“Stubby Clapp, Russell Martin and [Justin] Morneau were all there in 2006 for the heartbreak when we lost because of the run differential and we didn’t move on when we thought we did despite beating U.S.A. that year and did not advance,” Procyshen said. “Being able to take care of that, it was a lot of emotion for those guys specifically.”
“Just for myself, in [2023] we were watching the final game [of pool play] hoping that we had a chance to move onto Miami, and we didn’t,” Procyshen continued. “So, this time around we took it into our own hands. [It was] a sense of pride, that was the biggest thing that we talked about as a coaching staff and in the locker room afterwards.”
However, it’s not always just about the talent on the field, as some of the best teammates are those who can keep the clubhouse vibes on high while still remaining focused.
“Kungkuan Giljegiljaw, he was a designated hitter for the W.B.C. who is about 30 years old, and I’ve played with him previously,” Lin said. “It’s such high pressure to play in these games, and everyone is nervous before the first game, so he told everyone to come to his room to drink a little bit of wine and help everyone to not become too stiff, to enjoy the game. He was like our captain off the field.”
When looking back on the time, there are always moments that stick out more so than others, and some that they will never forget through the rest of their baseball careers.
“Probably the home run that [Abraham] Toro hit against Cuba, that kind of put the nail in the coffin,” Procyshen said. “That’s when we were like, ‘Alright, we’re going [on].’ Seeing that, and what Paxton did for us, I mean they guy had not pitched since 2024. He came out and was still throwing 96-97 mph, it’s unbelievable to watch that. His mannerisms, you grown up as a kid watching him and he’s what every Canadian left-handed pitcher wants to be, let alone just any baseball player.”
“The tournament was amazing and pitching in the game without allowing a run and two strikeouts, it’s amazing,” Lin said. “It’s the best moment I’ve ever had. There’s a lot of good moments though, seeing your teammates fighting on the field, and I’ve never seen everyone so focused. Even the guys not playing, the coaching staff and those going over the work on the scouting report. You always get here earlier than the players and you’re the last to leave, I was very thankful for that.”
Some players, including Vladimir Guerrero Jr., had said that the World Baseball Classic had become more important to win than a World Series. While none of Robinson, Lin or Procyshen could say with absolute certainty that is the case, each had their own unique perspective on what it meant for them to be there.
“The pride of playing for [Great Britain], I briefly got to learn about the federation and about the work they do with [Great Britain] baseball, being a part of that and representing the country in a way for baseball, that was something I grabbed on to for this tournament,” Robinson said. “There’s a difference to that being somewhere you grew up, you love the country and the people in it, and you’ve done a lot for it and now you’re wearing their jersey representing them on the biggest stage in the sport. It does feel very personal and passionate to represent on that stage.”
“Everybody talks about playing for your country being just a little bit different, and it truly is,” Procyshen said. “It’s one of those things where you get to wear your nation’s country across your chest, and that’s the only thing that matters in that moment.”