Which Marlins players will play in the World Baseball Classic? Here’s the full list
Baseball is about to be in full swing for the Miami Marlins. Pitchers and catchers report to the team’s spring training site in Jupiter on Wednesday, with full-squad workouts starting on Feb. 16. Opening Day is March 27 against the Colorado Rockies.
In between, a contingent of Marlins players will also be participating in the World Baseball Classic.
Rosters for all 20 teams set to participate in the international tournament were announced Thursday night, and the Marlins will have 11 combined players representing seven countries in the event.
The full list of Marlins representation is below:
Canada: Shortstop Otto Lopez, outfielder Owen Caissie, catcher Liam Hicks
Cuba: Infielder Yiddi Cappe
Dominican Republic: Right-handed pitcher Sandy Alcantara, catcher Agustin Ramirez
Great Britain: Right-handed pitcher Michael Petersen, infielder Ian Lewis
Italy: Outfielder Jakob Marsee
Mexico: Infielder Jared Serna
Venezuela: Utility player Javier Sanoja
About the World Baseball Classic
The World Baseball Classic takes place every four years. The tournament, which this year runs from March 5-17, features teams from 20 countries split into four pools of five teams. The opening round is a round-robin tournament, with each team playing the other four teams from its pool once. The two teams from each pool with the best record advances to the quarterfinals. The rest of the tournament from that point on is single elimination.
loanDepot park a central figure
For the second consecutive iteration of the tournament, loanDepot park — the Marlins’ home ballpark — will play a central role in the tournament as it will be a host site in every phase of the event. It will be one of four sites for pool play, one of two sites for the quarterfinals and host the semifinals and championship game.
The ballpark had the same setup in 2023. During that tournament, loanDepot park hosted 15 games — 10 in pool play, two quarterfinals, the two semifinals and the championship game — with a combined announced attendance of 475,269 for an average of 31,684.6 fans per game. Nine of the 15 games had more than 35,000 people, including 36,098 for the championship between the United States and Japan.
San Juan, Puerto Rico’s Hiram Bithorn Stadium, Houston’s Daikin Park and Tokyo’s Tokyo Dome are the other three sites for pool play. Houston will host the two quarterfinals games not played in Miami.
Where will each Marlins player will begin the tournament?
Countries are broken down into the following pools...
Pool A (San Juan, Puerto Rico): Puerto Rico, Cuba, Canada, Panama, Colombia
Pool B (Houston): United States, Mexico, Italy, Great Britain, Brazil
Pool C (Tokyo): Japan, Australia, Korea, Czechia, Chinese Taipei
Pool D (Miami): Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Netherlands, Israel, Nicaragua
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