World Baseball Classic: Team DR Roster News, Notes, and Analysis

The World Baseball Classic is coming back. In March, 20 teams from around the world will compete for international baseball glory. Among them will be the only three countries to have actually won the tournament: Japan (2006, ’09, ’23), the USA (2017), and the Dominican Republic (2013).

In the last WBC, it was Samurai Japan and Team USA that battled it out in the final, while the Dominican squad failed to escape the first round. Despite that disappointing early exit, the DR remains one of the three favorites to win in 2026 – and perhaps the chip on their shoulder will be just the motivation they need.

It is also key to note that the Dominican team is in an easier pool this year. In 2023, they were grouped with Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Israel, and Nicaragua in Pool D.

This time around, they’re still in Pool D with Venezuela, Israel, and Nicaragua, but the Netherlands replaces Puerto Rico to round out the group. It was Venezuela and Puerto Rico that beat the DR in 2023, and the Puerto Rican team is a bigger threat than the Dutch squad (even without Francisco Lindor and Carlos Correa).

So, which MLB stars will suit up for the Dominican Republic as the country tries to bounce back from a first-round exit and win its second WBC title? Let’s take a look.

World Baseball Classic: Team Dominican Republic Roster

Update: Edwin Uceta is nursing a shoulder injury and will no longer be able to participate in the tournament.

Position Players

Almost all of the best position players the Dominican Republic could have asked for will be suiting up for this tournament.

The catchers were originally going to be Yainer Diaz and Webster Rivas, and with all due respect to that tandem, this is certainly an improvement. Austin Wells (Dominican on his mother’s side) is one of the best defensive catchers in MLB. His bat has been less impressive so far, but considering the rest of the bats in the DR’s lineup, that’s not a problem.

Agustín Ramírez is an exciting backup. His rookie season was underwhelming, but his raw power is special, and he has spent the offseason working to improve his defense.

As for the players covering the bases, there’s a strong case to be made that the best first, second, and third basemen in MLB are all Dominican: Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Ketel Marte, and José Ramírez.

Unfortunately, Ramírez had to back out of the WBC (his wife is eight months pregnant), but Guerrero and Marte will be starting at first and second, respectively. And thankfully, Team DR has two more star third basemen in Manny Machado and Junior Caminero. Caminero will presumably see most of his WBC reps as a designated hitter, while Machado, the superior defender, will man the hot corner.

On top of that, Ramírez suggested that he could rejoin the DR if the team advances to a later round of the tournament. (Presumably, it all depends on when his wife actually gives birth.) All that to say, this team is more than set at third base.

Rounding out the infield is a shortstop duo of Geraldo Perdomo and Jeremy Peña, two players who enjoyed tremendous offensive breakouts in 2025. Perdomo led qualified MLB shortstops with a 138 wRC+, while Peña finished a close second with a 135 mark. This team will hardly miss Elly De La Cruz, who decided to skip the tournament for the sake of his health.

Perdomo and Peña still need to prove their breakouts were sustainable, but the fact that two guys who earned MVP votes last season are the least proven stars in this infield only goes to show how loaded the DR’s roster is.

And it keeps going.

We might also be looking at the three best outfielders in baseball (not named Aaron Judge) here: Juan Soto, Julio Rodríguez, and Fernando Tatis Jr.

Joining them is Johan Rojas, who should be an excellent late-game defensive replacement or pinch-runner. Finally, Oneil Cruz remains an exciting name, even if the jury is still out on his defense in center field, and he’s yet to live up to the monster expectations he set for himself as a prospect.

Manny Machado, Ketel Marte, Jeremy Peña, Julio Rodríguez, and Juan Soto played for Team DR in the 2023 World Baseball Classic. Machado also played for Team DR in the 2017 World Baseball Classic.

Pitching Staff

It took a lot longer for the DR to secure its pitching staff than its position players. In the end, however, GM Nelson Cruz put together a group of arms more than capable of supporting the offense throughout this tournament.

Last year’s NL Cy Young runner-up, Cristopher Sánchez is a huge get for Team DR. The left-hander has blossomed into one of the best pitchers in baseball over the last two years.

He’ll be joined by 2022 NL Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara. While Alcantara didn’t always look sharp upon returning from Tommy John surgery last year, he did look much stronger in the second half. Even if he never regains his full ace form, there’s little doubt he belongs in this team’s rotation.

Framber Valdez and Freddy Peralta both expressed interest in participating at one point, but they’ll be spending all of spring training with their new teams instead. That means Brayan Bello and Luis Severino are rounding out the rotation. They’re not aces, but they’re more than solid back-end starters.

What’s more, there’s a chance Luis Castillo could join the Dominicans if they advance to a later round. He’s not on the roster right now, but he has been named to the team’s designated pitcher pool.

Turning to the bullpen, Jhoan Duran and Bryan Abreu would have been the ideal back-end duo, but this arm barn still has plenty of firepower without them.

Camilo Doval and Carlos Estévez have more than 200 saves between them. Abner Uribe flashed triple-digit heat as he pitched to a 1.67 ERA in a remarkable breakout 2025 season.

Seranthony Domínguez, Gregory Soto, and Huascar Brazobán are hard-throwing veterans with ample high-leverage experience. Dennis Santana has quietly been one of the game’s more effective relief arms the last two years. Wandy Peralta has pitched more seasons in the bigs than any other reliever on this roster.

All in all, the Dominican Republic’s pitching staff isn’t a strength in the same way its lineup is, but this is still a very solid group of pitchers, with only a handful of notable omissions.

Sandy Alcantara and Camilo Doval also played for Team DR in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

Designated Pitcher Pool

Pitchers in the DPP are eligible to be added to their team’s roster as replacements after the first round:

• Luis Castillo
• Yerry De Los Santos
• Yaramil Hiraldo
• Juan Mejia
• Joel Peguero
• Yohan Ramírez

Coaching and Administrative Staff

Nelson Cruz played for Team DR in four World Baseball Classics from 2009-23. He was also the GM in 2023, and he’s returning to that role for 2026.

Albert Pujols has recently expressed interest in managing in MLB, and he was reportedly a candidate for the Angels, Orioles, and Padres managerial vacancies this winter. Although he didn’t land any of those jobs, the WBC could be a great opportunity for him to showcase his talents as a skipper.

In addition to Pujols, MLB fans will surely be familiar with bench coach Plácido Polanco. Assistant pitching coach Joel Peralta had a lengthy MLB career of his own.

Two more former major leaguers on the coaching staff, Fernando Tatis Sr. and José Canó, are perhaps best known as the fathers of MLB superstars Fernando Tatis Jr. and Robinson Canó. The younger Tatis will be playing in his first World Baseball Classic in 2026, while the younger Canó will not play in the WBC for the first time since the inaugural tournament in 2006.

Wellington Cepeda, Jose Canó, and Tony Diaz are returning to Team DR’s coaching staff from the 2023 WBC. Cepeda is back as pitching coach, while Canó is moving from assistant pitching coach to bullpen coach, and Díaz is moving from bench coach to third base coach.

Rounding out the staff are newcomers Gilbert Gómez, Jorge Mejía, René Rojas, and Hector Borg.

Read more

International

World Baseball Classic: Team USA Roster News, Notes, and Analysis

MLB

WBC Roster Preview: Team DR Could Win It All

World Baseball Classic: Team DR Schedule

Exhibition Games

Team DR’s exhibition games against the Detroit Tigers will be played at Estadio Quisqueya Juan Marichal in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Pool Play

Team DR is a member of Pool D, which will play from March 6 to 11 at loanDepot Park in Miami. Joining the Dominicans in the pool are Team Venezuela, Team Netherlands, Team Israel, and Team Nicaragua.

Date	Opponent	Start Time
March 6	vs. Nicaragua	7:00 pm ET / 8:00 pm AT
March 8	vs. Netherlands	12:00 pm ET / 1:00 pm AT
March 9	@ Israel	12:00 pm ET / 1:00 pm AT
March 11	@ Venezuela	8:00 pm ET / 9:00 pm AT

Knockout Rounds