We Europeans must stick together, and having seen Spain demolish Great Britain in the final of the 2023 European Championship in Brno, Czechia, I definitely want the Spanish team to be yet another European representative in the 2026 World Baseball Classic.
Quick reminder
World Baseball Classic is baseball’s equivalent of the football World Cup. The finals, which take place in March 2026, comprise four groups of five teams.
There are no easy groups, but Great Britain’s Pool B looks particularly tough with the USA, Mexico, and Italy, plus one of the qualifiers.
In 2023, when GB faced the USA in Phoenix, the host’s lineup started: Mookie Betts, Mike Trout, Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado, Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, and Kyle Tucker. Kyle Tucker batting seventh!
It gives me chills just thinking about the 2026 rematch.
Qualifying competition
With GB beating Colombia in the 2023 WBC – in one of the greatest sporting occasions I’ve ever witnessed live – they finished fourth in the group of five and automatically qualified for 2026 as one of the Top 16 teams.
That means there are still four spots up for grabs.
Spain will get their chance in the Taipei Qualifiers, which start on 20 February at the unholy time of 4:00am GMT, with all games shown on MLB.tv.
There are also qualifiers in Tucson – more about that to follow next week – but today, we’re focusing on the qualifiers in Taiwan.
Note: Taiwan goes by Chinese Taipei in sporting events like the Olympics and international baseball tournaments such as the World Baseball Classic.
Two qualifying spots up for grabs
The four teams competing in the Taipei qualifiers are…
- South Africa
- Nicaragua
- Spain
- Chinese Taipei
The winner of the round-robin competition will progress to the WBC in March 2026, and the second and third-place teams will play a one-off game to determine the second qualifier.
Spain has bitter memories of failing to qualify for the last World Baseball Classic when they lost back-to-back “winner qualifies” games to GB and then Czechia.
If you have a spare minute, re-live the epic extra-innings walk-off win by GB, having trailed by five runs in the fourth inning.
Obviously, Spain took revenge in the European Championships in October 2023 by defeating GB 11-2 in the final. Don’t bother watching highlights of this one, although a silver medal for Great Britain was an astonishing achievement.
I think I mentioned at the time that such is the expectation manager Drew Spencer has brought to the national team, finishing second in the European Championship was tinged with slight disappointment.
Who plays for Spain?
When I saw Spain play basketball in the London Olympics, their team was stacked with NBA stars. Jose Calderon (my personal favourite), Pau and Marc Gasol, and Serge Ibaka.
The Spanish baseball team is nothing like that. Similar to GB, they have very few homegrown players, and in fact, their roster only has one player born in the country.
The biggest name in Spain’s team is their hitting coach, Adam Jones. The five-time All-Star, who won the WBC in 2017 with the USA, retired from MLB in 2019 as a 33-year-old with 32.6 career WAR. His presence around the exciting Spanish roster will undoubtedly provide a boost for the underdogs.
With more than 1,000 MLB plate appearances to his name, the seven-year veteran split his time between the Braves, Angels and Diamondbacks in 2024. He got on-base at a healthy .347 clip for the Diamondbacks; MLB average was .314. OBP.
BREAKING NEWS: The versatile infielder has just signed a minor league deal with the Houston Astros for 2025 and is now out of the qualifiers. This is a big blow for Spain.
Former Texas Ranger outfielder was a Top 100 prospect for several years, but his big league career lasted just 40 games. I would have guessed that he had played far more than that. He has since excelled in Indy Ball, the Mexican League and the Dominican Winter League.
Cousin of Alcides Escobar, the right-hander is a veteran of Spain’s campaigns. He has a career 3.18 ERA in MLB; just don’t look up how many games he pitched.
Son of a Spanish father, the former Phillies relief pitcher won a bronze medal for the Dominican Republic at the 2020 Toyko Olympics.
Represented Spain in the 2009 Baseball World Cup, not to be confused with the World Baseball Classic, the BWC was the amateur version. He has since become a fixture in the Spanish lineup. As a big leaguer, Cruz saw action in the Astros’ and Blue Jays’ bullpen.
The exciting Chicago Cubs prospect is expected to start 2025 with the Iowa Cubs, the Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate. The outfielder has hit over 20 home runs in each of his last two minor league seasons.
One of the most highly-touted prospects from the International Signing class in 2021, the shortstop received a staggering $3 million signing bonus as a 16-year-old. He struggled in Single-A last season but has just returned from a successful stint with Perth in the Australian Baseball League.
Star of Parma’s team in the Italian Serie A – an impressive .315/.396/.411 slash line last season – Encarnacion was the tournament’s MVP during Spain’s victorious 2023 European Championship campaign.
35-year-old pitcher never quite made it to The Show with the Braves but has 134 starts to his name across different leagues, including all levels of the minors, and in Cuba, Italy, and China. Last year, he pitched 58 innings for a 3.86 ERA for the Leones de Yucatan in Mexico.
Unfortunately, we won’t get to see two stars who Spain will sorely miss. Noelvi Marte is a superstar-in-waiting but has more pressing concerns at Reds’ Spring Training camp as he battles for his spot in Cincinnati’s roster.
Omar Hernández, leading home run hitter and highest run scorer of the European Championship, is also absent, but his twin brother, Frank, will be playing.
Nicaragua
Nicaragua lost all four games in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, so must attempt to qualify again. Their Group D featured three heavyweights: Venezuela, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. Fourth place was inevitably to be decided between Nicaragua and Israel.
Nicaragua scored runs in all of their four games, while Israel suffered the indignation of two 0-10 mercy rule defeats, but in the crucial tie between the two minnows, it was Israel that was victorious and so qualified for the 2026 WBC.
Nicaragua suffered a blow last week when one of their most experienced players, Cheslor Cuthbert, was forced to withdraw after tearing his Achilles. Ouch. He joins Jonathan Loáisiga and Mark Vientos as players who might be available for Nicaragua if they qualify.
Elian Rayo is MLB’s Michael Clair’s One to Watch. The 21-year-old spent last year in Single-A within the Giants organisation and could be a breakout candidate.
South Africa
There is no major league experience on the South African roster, but Victor Ngoepe is the 26-year-old brother of former Pirates and Blue Jays infielder Gift, who became the first African-born player to play in MLB.
Shortstop Chris Beyers is another player to keep an eye on. He represented UAE in the Arab Classic and was named to the 2024 All-Tournament Team.
South Africa has a world ranking of 31, so they definitely need a couple of upsets to progress to the 2026 finals.
Chinese Taipei
Want to know how popular baseball is in Taiwan? All of the host’s games have already sold out.
As mentioned above, Great Britain finished fourth out of five in their 2023 WBC pool, so automatically qualify for the 2026 tournament as one of the Top 16 nations. Chinese Taipei had a 2-2 record in their pool, but finished bottom of the group due to allowing more runs than Panama, Italy, and the Netherlands, who also had two wins and two losses.
There are two players on the roster with MLB experience, one being Tzu-Wei Lin with spells in Boston and Minnesota.
With 650 plate appearances in MLB, Yu Chang is the most experienced (in MLB terms). Still only 29, the infielder spent the majority of his big league career with Cleveland before time with the Pirates, Rays, and Red Sox. His stint with Tampa Bay yielded a decent .260/.305/.385 slash line.
Chieh-Hsien Chen produced one of the most exhilarating moments in WBC history when he hit a three-run homer to extend the lead against the dream team from Japan. Moments like this remind you exactly why baseball is the best sport in the world.
Most of the roster play or have experience in CPBL (Chinese Professional Baseball League) and Chinese Taipei start the competition as heavy favourites to qualify for 2026.
If WBC interests you, let me point you in the direction of two fantastic resources.
Article by Gav Tramps. Want to get your opinions in front of Bat Flips Nerds’ audience of 10,000+? Hit the “Write for us” link
