{"id":557272,"date":"2026-02-06T05:37:19","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T05:37:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/557272\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T05:37:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T05:37:19","slug":"two-twins-officially-named-to-world-baseball-classic-rosters-one-more-assumed-twins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/557272\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Twins Officially Named to World Baseball Classic Rosters, One More Assumed – Twins"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tTheir inclusion was announced weeks\u2014even months\u2014ago, but with the tournament around the corner, it’s a good time to note that three Minnesota Twins will represent their home countries in the World Baseball Classic. Byron Buxton<\/a> and Joe Ryan<\/a> will don the stars and stripes for Team USA, with Pablo L\u00f3pez<\/a> potentially holding down a rotation spot for Team Venezuela. His inclusion has not been officially confirmed by Major League Baseball, but\u00a0reports surfaced a few weeks ago<\/a> saying he would be on the roster.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tNewly-signed catcher Victor Caratini<\/a> was also planning to play for Team Puerto Rico, but he and a handful of his countrymen (including former Twin Carlos Correa<\/a>) were reportedly denied insurance<\/a>\u00a0for these games and are thus not included on the roster. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe tournament runs every three years, and is largely seen as the game\u2019s highest level of international competition. While baseball has been on various Olympic games dockets, it traditionally has not included MLB stars. The WBC has attracted far more established, household names over the years, and continues to grow in popularity. For three weeks starting on March 5, 20 teams will go head-to-head, starting with pool play, then advancing to a bracket. It culminates with a championship game on March 17 at loanDepot Park in Miami.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tBuxton should get plenty of playing time even in a star-studded outfield for Team USA, where he\u2019ll likely split center field duties with Chicago Cubs star Pete Crow-Armstrong<\/a>. Buxton may have the edge as a veteran, with a longer track record when it comes to his hitting ability, but Crow-Armstrong was one of the best in the game when it came to defense in 2025. They\u2019ll be joined on the outfield grass by Aaron Judge<\/a> and Corbin Carroll<\/a>. Perhaps this will be the first time we see Buxton in a corner outfield role in his professional career, should manager Mark DeRosa<\/a> decide to mix and match for platoon advantages.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tRyan is joined in the starting rotation by reigning Cy Young<\/a> winners Paul Skenes<\/a> and Tarik Skubal<\/a>, along with Logan Webb<\/a>. Clayton Kershaw<\/a> is also on the roster, but it\u2019s unclear if he\u2019ll work in a starting or a relief role in what will be the final professional appearance of his illustrious career. Regardless, Ryan is primed to get at least one start, especially if Team USA makes it out of pool play. Notably, Ryan represented Team USA in the 2020 Summer Olympics, where he earned a silver medal.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tL\u00f3pez would be the highest-profile starter on Team Venezuela\u2019s roster, where he\u2019d be joined by fellow MLB veterans Germ\u00e1n M\u00e1rquez<\/a> and Eduardo Rodr\u00edguez<\/a>. Of note, L\u00f3pez dazzled in the 2023 WBC, highlighted by a 4 \u2153-inning gem against Puerto Rico wherein he only allowed two hits and an earned run while striking out six.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tA handful of old friends are also participating in this year\u2019s games. Former Twins pitcher Griffin Jax<\/a> (currently on the Tampa Bay Rays) will join Buxton and Ryan on Team USA. Slugger Carlos Santana<\/a> (Arizona Diamondbacks) will yet again represent Dominican Republic, where he\u2019ll be joined by one-time Twins spring training invitee Dennis Santana<\/a> (Pittsburgh Pirates). Harrison Bader<\/a> (San Francisco Giants) will play for Team Israel, and Willi Castro<\/a> (Colorado Rockies) will represent Puerto Rico.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tLiam Hendriks<\/a> (free agent) will play for Team Australia, as he hopes to continue his playing career, and Terrin Vavra<\/a> (free agent), the former University of Minnesota Golden Gopher and son of former Twins coach Joe Vavra, will represent Team Czechia.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tWBC games kick off at 9 PM CST on March 4, and can be seen on FOX, FS1, FS2 and the FOX Sports app.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Their inclusion was announced weeks\u2014even months\u2014ago, but with the tournament around the corner, it’s a good time to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":557273,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2388],"tags":[5,2223,1455,822,60,3190,4,1997,148,4820],"class_list":{"0":"post-557272","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-minnesota-twins","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-byron-buxton","10":"tag-joe-ryan","11":"tag-minnesota","12":"tag-minnesota-twins","13":"tag-minnesotatwins","14":"tag-mlb","15":"tag-pablo-lopez","16":"tag-twins","17":"tag-world-baseball-classic"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116022073442286422","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=557272"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557272\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/557273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=557272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=557272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=557272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}