Boston Red Sox Are Well Represented In 2026 World Baseball Classic

[Alex Mayes]

The World Baseball Classic starts in less than a month, and the Boston Red Sox are going to be incredibly well represented across multiple countries. Fourteen members of the organization will be playing for ten different teams, all vying to capture the WBC Title on March 17. While this will cut into their time with the club in spring training, the experience gained throughout the WBC should be instrumental in the further development of the young talent in the organization. Let’s take a look at which members of the Red Sox are playing in the WBC this year.

Team USA: Garrett Whitlock, RHP

Whitlock is hoping to help anchor the back of Team USA’s bullpen, much like he did for the Red Sox in 2025. He should prove to be an instrumental part of the bullpen throughout the tournament. While the closing duties will likely be handled by Mason Miller, Whitlock should be penciled in as a late-inning specialist that bridges to the lights out closer, a role he’s incredibly comfortable with after spending last season doing the same for Aroldis Chapman. Team USA has finally fielded an absolute juggernaut of a team and should be on the short list of favorites to win the entire WBC.

Team Dominican Republic: Brayan Bello, RHP

Bello joins an absolutely stacked roster for the Dominican Republic this year and hopes to help make a name for himself behind other starters such as Sandy Alcantara and Cristopher Sanchez during his time playing in the WBC. As we know, Bello is a ground-ball specialist and will be pitching in front of a defensive-minded team representing the Dominican, so he has a chance to really shine as the tournament gets underway in March. Should that happen, watch for Bello to take another step forward during the actual season with the Red Sox to help solidify him as a building block moving forward.

Team Japan: Masataka Yoshida, OF/DH

Masa rejoins Samurai Japan in 2026 to help them achieve their goal of becoming back-to-back WBC Champions. He was a late addition to their roster but comes with the pedigree of being one of the best players in Japan’s WBC history. The biggest pause for concern with Yoshida and the WBC, though, is that the last time he competed in it, he ran out of gas about halfway through his first big league season. Hopefully having a few more years of experience under his belt will help to keep him from the same fate in 2026. Much like the United States and the Dominican Republic above, Samurai Japan employ a deep roster of talent and are expected to be competing for the WBC Title.

Team Venezuela: Wilyer Abreu, OF; Willson Contreras, 1B; Ranger Suarez, LHP

Team Venezuela has the largest group of Sox players competing together during the tournament, so there should be ample opportunity for the new teammates to get to know one another while they are together. Abreu will look to continue his defensive dominance in the outfield, Contreras will be hoping to showcase that his first full season at first base wasn’t a fluke defensively, and Suarez will get a chance to get tuned up well before the MLB season starts.

Team Great Britain: Jack Anderson, RHP; Nate Eaton, UTIL

Both of the remaining Red Sox players for Great Britain are likely won’t see a ton of playing time, but Eaton figures to get into games as a pinch-running threat and a steady defensive sub when needed at multiple spots across the field. It’s unfortunate that Aroldis Chapman will no longer be suiting up for Great Britain this year, as watching him come in and close games in March would have been incredibly fun.

Team Mexico: Jarren Duran, OF

Duran is likely looking to put the stench of his 2023 WBC appearance behind him. He barely saw any playing time with Team Mexico and, in turn, was ridiculed for choosing to participate in the tournament instead of spending time in big league spring training. What followed was an abysmal season for Duran that left many questioning where his future in the organization was headed. He turned things around in 2024 and 2025 though, and he’s looking to make a huge impact for Mexico this time around.

Team Columbia: Tayron Guerrero, RHP

Guerrero was signed in January to a minor-league deal with the Red Sox after spending the last few seasons in the NPB with the Chiba Lotte Marines. He’s a hard-throwing right-handed reliever who is expected to compete for a spot in the major-league bullpen once he returns from the WBC to spring training. He just turned 35 and hasn’t seen any MLB action since 2019, but he can hit 101mph on occasion, so a good showing for Columbia could bode well for him in Boston.

Team Puerto Rico: Jovani Moran, LHP; Eduardo Rivera, LHP

Moran figures to head back to the bullpen for the Red Sox once the WBC concludes, where he will be the left-handed specialist in the middle innings. He earned that spot from a late-season call up in 2025 where he performed well and he survived the offseason without being traded or DFA’d, so it stands to reason that he’s penciled into a solid role as we approach the start of spring training. Rivera has made it to Double-A Portland in 2025 and is considered a lefty specialist as well. It’s hard to predict how much play time both will get, especially with Moran being a late addition after an issue with his insurance almost prevented him from competing in the WBC altogether, but good showings from both lefties would help them solidify their spots in the organization this season.

Team Netherlands: Ceddanne Rafaela, OF

The Gold-Glove-winning center fielder will be roaming the same position for Team Netherlands this year in the WBC. He’s expected to bring high-level defense and his clutch hitting to a Netherlands team that could make a deeper run in the tournament than most fans expect. He’s going to be joining former Red Sox Xander Bogaerts with Team Netherlands. That sentence still makes me sad to type. Rafaela should thrive under the bright lights of the WBC and the hope, much like Yoshida above, is that the physical toll of playing in the tournament doesn’t wear him out as the regular season drags through the dog days of summer.

Team Italy: Greg Weissert, RHP

The sneaky reliever for the Red Sox is joining team Italy this year and looks to establish himself as the go-to right hander behind Whitlock in the Sox’s bullpen when he returns to spring training. While Italy isn’t a world beater by any means, Weissert getting live game reps against elite talent from across the world will likely set him up to be a trusty hand in the middle innings as the season gets underway.

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The Red Sox are going to be using a lot of minor-league talent during the month of March while the World Baseball Classic is going on, but the team will be well represented through multiple different countries. Be sure to tune in on March 5 when pool play begins to support your Red Sox representatives!

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