Wearing father's No. 24, Ramirez ready to lead Brazil to baseball prominence in Classic

MESA, Ariz. -- Soccer is essentially the national sport of Brazil, a country that has produced five FIFA World Cup titles and true icons of the game from Pelé to Ronaldinho to Neymar.

For the 2026 World Baseball Classic, outfielder Lucas Ramirez aims to go out and show that Brazil can make some noise in another sport.

“Baseball is definitely growing in Brazil, and a lot of other countries as well,” Ramirez said before Team Brazil's 14-4 loss to the Athletics at Hohokam Stadium. “I’m glad to see that baseball is going into countries that are mainly like soccer countries or more into other sports. There’s a lot of good baseball that’s coming from Brazil.”

If the Ramirez name rings a bell, it’s likely because you’ve watched or heard of his father, Manny Ramirez. The former prolific slugger coached Lucas throughout his childhood, and it doesn’t get much better than learning the art of hitting from a 12-time All-Star who hit .312 with 555 home runs over a 19-year career in the Majors.

Manny was considered one of the best right-handed hitters of his era. Despite being a natural right-hander, however, Lucas, who is wearing No. 24 for Brazil in honor of his father, bats left-handed. This was by design, as the elder Ramirez specifically wanted his son to learn to bat lefty at a young age knowing that he would see more right-handed pitching over his playing career.

“He just made me a lefty when I was little and I just stuck to it,” Ramirez said. “He was my hitting coach my whole life. I didn’t go to anybody else. I just trusted him. I tried to implement some of the stuff he did when he played, just from the left side. Nothing different.”

Of course, Manny famously hails from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and represented it with pride. Lucas was born in Weston, Florida, but his mother, Juliana, was born and raised in São Paulo, Brazil, which is why he jumped at the opportunity to represent the country when he got the call.

“It means a lot,” Ramirez said. “I get to showcase my abilities for Team Brazil and represent her. I’m not only representing Brazil in baseball. I’m representing the whole country and showing love to the culture.”

Drafted by the Angels in 2024 out of American Heritage High School (Plantation, Florida), Ramirez made his professional debut in 2025, playing for the ACL Angels and High-A Tri-City and combining to hit .266 with a .773 OPS and three home runs in 60 games. At age 20, he enters the WBC as one of the youngest players in the tournament.

Beyond Ramirez, Brazil’s roster features infielder Dante Bichette Jr., brother of Bo and son of former big league outfielder, Dante Sr., and right-hander Joseph Contreras, son of longtime MLB pitcher José Contreras.

This will be Brazil’s second appearance in the WBC, with their debut appearance coming back in 2013. Still searching for its first WBC win, Brazil will be a massive underdog in a strong Pool B, which includes the United States, Mexico, Italy and Great Britain as the other teams in the group. Brazil has a tall task as it opens play on Friday at 8 p.m. ET on FOX against host nation Team USA at Daikin Park in Houston.

This time around, however, Brazil is carrying some momentum. The country brought home a silver medal at the 2023 Pan American Games, and that’s just part of a Brazilian baseball boom that has taken place in recent years. MLB has also launched Yakult Baseball Training Center, a local state-of-the-art baseball academy in Ibiúna, São Paulo that hosts 50 young elite players (ages 12-16) from all around Latin America on full scholarships, providing housing, education, and high-level training to foster professional talent.

“We’re underrated,” Ramirez said. “A lot of people think [teams] are just going to walk all over us, but nah. We’ve got some power. We’ve got strength. We’re going to fight.”