MIAMI -- With their ticket already punched to the quarterfinals, it might have been natural for Venezuela’s players to begin looking ahead at Wednesday’s rivalry game against the Dominican Republic. Not Ronald Acuña Jr., whose focus was squarely on Nicaragua on Monday night as his team tried to preserve its

MIAMI -- Unlike Saturday, when Team Israel looked across the field at Venezuela and saw familiar faces such as Ronald Acuña Jr., Luis Arraez and Eugenio Suárez, its opponent Sunday night presented a different type of challenge. “It’s a little bit more old-school baseball when you don't have as much

MIAMI – It was the biggest moment of Jeter Downs’ career, yet when all was said and done, the 27-year-old struggled to put his day into words. Downs belted a go-ahead, two-run home run in the eighth inning against the Netherlands on Saturday, putting Nicaragua in position to pick up

MIAMI – For eight innings Saturday, Team Netherlands looked helpless at the plate, stranding 10 men on base while going hitless in six tries with runners in scoring position. One swing by Ozzie Albies erased all of that frustration, turning what would have been a crushing defeat into a Classic

Nicaragua's Emanuel Trujillo didn't have to wait long for his chance at redemption. After striking out with the bases loaded to end the top of the fifth inning of Nicaragua's 4-3 loss to the Netherlands on Saturday, the 24-year-old make a stupendous -- dare we say Jeter-esque -- catch to

MIAMI – As they prepared for their first game in this year’s World Baseball Classic, Juan Soto promised that the Dominican Republic team was going to have fun. “And we’re going to be loud,” Fernando Tatis Jr. added. Tatis wasn’t necessarily talking about the sound of Junior Caminero’s bat, but

JUPITER, Fla. -- Dusty Baker realizes that Team Nicaragua, the squad he is managing in the World Baseball Classic, is not a powerhouse like Team USA, Japan and the Dominican Republic. But he vows his team will not be pushovers in the tournament. Maybe Baker said it best: Nicaragua “is

Get ready to dive into World Baseball Classic pool play. The 2026 tournament, which gets underway this week, features four pools: A, B, C and D. Each of those pools consists of five teams battling it out in a round-robin format. The top two teams from each pool then advance

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. – Mark Vientos, Jeter Downs and Freddy Zamora grew up together in the Miami area, playing with and against each other during their travel ball days. Nearly two decades after they first met, the trio is back together, comprising three-fourths of the starting infield for Team

On Thursday night, in a crisp white jersey with a flourish of blue script reminiscent of his days with the Dodgers, Dusty Baker took the dugout for the first time as Nicaragua's manager. The national team was playing the first of a four-game exhibition series against international baseball rival Cuba

After going winless in the country's first World Baseball Classic in 2023, Nicaragua surprised many as it swept its way through the Taipei Qualifier last March. But these weren't blowouts: Nicaragua pulled off back-to-back 2-1 victories in the 10th inning against South Africa and Spain before defeating the hosts, Chinese

Below is a list of the players in every Major League organization who have been included on the rosters for the 2026 World Baseball Classic. Pitchers denoted with ^ are part of the Designated Pitcher Pool (DPP), a reserve of up to six pitchers per federation that can be called

The World Baseball Classic begins on Wednesday, March 4, at 10 p.m. ET in a game between Australia and Chinese Taipei. It will kick off a fortnight of absolute madness, with the best baseball players on the planet highly motivated by patriotism, pride and plain old competitiveness squaring off in

Dusty Baker's got his slugger! On Friday afternoon, Nicaragua announced that Mark Vientos, the Mets' power-hitting third baseman, intends to play for the team at the upcoming World Baseball Classic this March. Originally born in Norwalk, Conn., Vientos is eligible for the national team through his mother, Katy Wilmore, who

ORLANDO, Fla. -- With 2,183 wins as a manager over 26 seasons and plenty of accomplishments from his 19 seasons as a player, Dusty Baker has nothing left to prove in baseball. Now 76, Baker still loves the game and watches it daily in his role as a special assistant

Dusty Baker will manage Nicaragua at the 2026 World Baseball Classic, the Nicaragua national baseball team announced on Monday. Baker, 76, is the eighth-winningest manager in MLB history and one of just 13 managers with over 2,000 wins. A three-time NL Manager of the Year, Baker spent 26 seasons at

This is an excerpt from the latest edition of Michael Clair's International Beat Newsletter, bringing global baseball news to your inbox every month. Sign up for future installments HERE and check out the full newsletter HERE. The World Baseball Classic Qualifiers have wrapped up, with Nicaragua, Chinese Taipei, Colombia and

Nicaragua and Chinese Taipei are headed back to the World Baseball Classic! Nicaragua defeated the hosts, 6-0, to close out round-robin play on Sunday as the undefeated pool winner, while Chinese Taipei -- playing in front of sold out crowds at the Taipei Dome -- defeated Spain, 6-3, on Tuesday

The World Baseball Classic Qualifiers opened with an absolutely stunning moment in the seventh inning of the first game between South Africa and Nicaragua at Taipei Dome. With one out and Nicaragua's Freddy Zamora on second base after singling in the tying run earlier in the frame, Benjamin Alegria hit

The road to World Baseball Classic 2026 begins now. Sixteen of the 20 teams are set and all that’s left is for the final four teams to battle for their places. The first stop begins at the Taipei Qualifiers on Feb. 20 at 11:00 p.m. EST (12 p.m. on Feb.

MIAMI -- Despite dropping the first three games of the World Baseball Classic, Nicaragua manager Sandor Guido continued to dream that his squad would get its first win. Unfortunately for Guido, his club ran into a Venezuela squad that appears poised to make a deep run in this year’s tournament.

MIAMI -- Duque Hebbert was sitting in the bullpen when the phone rang. Once he heard his name called, Hebbert knew this was the opportunity of a lifetime. What he didn’t know, however, was who he was set to face in the top of the ninth. The Dominican Republic had

MIAMI -- Making it to the World Baseball Classic for the first time in the country’s history was enough of a prize, according to Nicaragua manager Sandor Guido.

MIAMI -- Juan Soto has hit leadoff twice in his Major League career. But with his country, the Dominican Republic, needing a spark, manager Rodney Linares penciled Soto in as the new leadoff hitter. Once again, Soto proved that there’s virtually nothing he can’t do inside the batter’s box, turning

MIAMI -- In a Pool D that includes powerhouses Venezuela, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, not many people are giving Israel a chance to get out of the group and go deep in the 2023 World Baseball Classic. But that’s exactly how they like it. • Box score Remember,