PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — National teams in the World Baseball Classic assembled earlier this week and many of them begin pool play on Friday. As a warm-up, most of them scheduled exhibition games against MLB Spring Training teams.
What You Need To Know
The Tampa Bay Rays faced off against The Netherlands national team on Wednesday
National teams like The Netherlands are playing exhibition games ahead of the World Baseball Classic
The Rays lost, 11-8 at Charlotte Sports Park after a high-scoring 1st inning
Rays manager Kevin Cash valued the experience his club got playing against a national team
On Tuesday, the United States beat the Giants and Rays third baseman Junior Caminero shined for the Dominican Republic, going 4 for 4 with a home run to beat the Tigers.
On Wednesday, Team Netherlands made its way to Port Charlotte for an exhibition ballgame against the Rays. The Netherlands have five players on MLB rosters, headlined by Xander Bogaerts and Ozzie Albies.
They showed off that big leaguer strength early in this game, putting up three runs on four hits before recording an out. The put up a four spot in the 1st inning but the Rays bats responded with a couple runs in the bottom half of the frame so the fans got to watch plenty of offense at Charlotte Sports Park.
11-8 was the final score and Rays manager Kevin Cash is wanting more out of his ballclub
“Yeah we gotta start playing a little bit better baseball we’re not doing too many things well. Our pitching, our defense and our hitting is not that great either,” Cash said. “We’re having too many sloppy innings where one error turns into two or three runs. That’s generally not us so we got time but we need to start turning things in a better direction.”
SPRING TRAINING ⚾️
The Rays hosting the Netherlands national team today in an exhibition ahead of the World Baseball Classic!
This one doesn’t count towards the Grapefruit League standings, instead a good opportunity for both teams to get reps!@BN9 @SpecSports360 pic.twitter.com/Wfvq50LAwy
— Michael Epps (@MichaelEppsTV) March 4, 2026
This game did not count towards the Grapefruit League standings, but Cash said it provided just as much value for his club to get some reps playing a national team.
“Yeah there’s a lot of value to it. You’re playing against certain teams that have a bunch of all-stars. This team is certainly talented from the position player standpoint with Bogarts and Ozzie Albies out there so there’s motivation to go out and perform well,” Cash said.
On Thursday it’s back to business for the Rays, hosting the Orioles and then on Friday night, they go back to their old (temporary) home at George Steinbrenner Field to take on the Yankees up in Tampa.