Manny Machado's Eyes Are On The 2026 World Baseball Classic

[Kevin Barral]

On Sunday, the Dominican Republic held its first team practice at loanDepot park ahead of the World Baseball Classic, set to begin on Wednesday, March 4, when Chinese Taipei and Australia face off in the Tokyo Dome.

The biggest story for this team, led by manager Albert Pujols, is San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado, who was named captain for the Dominican Republic.

This will mark Machado’s third WBC, participating with the DR in 2017 and 2023, two years in which they were not able to win it all. He is coming off a season with the Padres in which he slashed .275/.335/.460/.795 with 27 home runs, 95 RBI, and a 123 wRC+.

In the last World Baseball Classic, Machado played in four games, going 4-17 with two home runs and four RBI. The Dominican Republic could not make it past the pool play round, going down as one of the biggest upsets in the tournament.

“I don’t even think about that,” Machado told reporters. “That’s all in the past. We are thinking about the team that we have right now and just play our game.”

Machado mentioned multiple times how much of an honor it will be to represent the Dominican Republic for a third time in the tournament, but noted that “the most important thing is to win.”

“That is what we in the clubhouse want,” Machado said. “At the end of the day, that is the most important thing.”

The Dominican Republic will play two exhibition games in Santo Domingo, with Luis Severino starting game one and Brayan Bello starting the second game. Both games will be against the Detroit Tigers.

“That’s going to be something special,” Machado said. “I don’t even have words to explain what that moment will be like. I think a lot of people are going to be happy about it. To play in front of fans who always support us, who may not have the chance to watch us here in the United States and play in front of them, it’s something special.”

Pool D play will begin on Friday, March 6, with the Dominican Republic playing in the night game at 7:00 pm against Nicaragua. For the DR, it’ll be Christopher Sanchez taking the mound, and for Nicaragua, Erasmo Ramirez will start.

Kevin Barral is on-site in Miami covering the World Baseball Classic for DiamondCentric.

View full article