ZAPOPAN, Mexico – The 2026 Caribbean Series is now committed to history, and the 2026 World Baseball Classic is the next big event on the world’s baseball calendar.
In total, 19 players at the Caribbean Series will be appearing in the 2026 World Baseball Classic for six of the 20 teams. Here’s how each of them fared in Jalisco last week.
Great Britain
Chavez Fernander, RP, Cangrejeros de Santurce – Fernander, who also played in the 2025 Caribbean Cup in December for the Bahamas, made two appearances for Santurce. He threw a scoreless inning on Feb. 3 against the Charros de Jalisco, then served as the opener in the Cangrejeros semifinal matchup against the Charros. He lasted 2/3 of an inning, allowing one run on one hit with a walk.
Mexico
Jesus Cruz, RP, Charros de Jalisco – Cruz made four appearances for the Charros, and was spectacular in his first three. He threw a scoreless 2/3 of an inning against the Leones del Escogido on Feb. 1, allowing one hit, two scoreless inning against both the Tomateros de Culiacan on Feb. 4 where he allowed two hits, and a scoreless inning against the Cangrejeros de Santurce, again allowing one hit. In the championship game, Cruz entered the game with two outs in the fifth and a runner on second. He allowed four consecutive singles, which got three more runs home for the Tomateros de Culiacan in an inning where they scored six, before striking out No. 9 hitter Ali Solis to end the inning. In the sixth, he gave up a single and retired two batters.
Gerardo Reyes, RP, Charros de Jalisco – Reyes made four appearances at the Caribbean Series, and didn’t give up a run in the first three, throwing a scoreless inning against the Cangrejeros de Santurce and the Tomateros de Culiacan in the round robin and another scoreless inning against Santurce in the semifinal. In the championship game, he threw 1 1/3 innings, allowing one run on one hit.
Alexis Wilson, C, Charros de Jalisco – Wilson caught the round robin game against the Leones del Escogido and went 0-for-3, and did the same in the semifinal against the Cangrejeros de Santurce. He came in as a defensive replacement in the 10th inning of the championship game and then started the bottom of the 10th as the ghost runner, eventually advancing to third before being lifted for pinch runner Cristopher Gastelum, who scored the game-tying run on a wild pitch.
Joey Meneses, IF, Tomateros de Culiacan – Meneses went 4-for-20, playing in the first five games before the Athletics, with whom he signed a minor league deal in November, told him not to play in the championship game. He had two RBIs for the Tomateros.
Julian Ornelas, OF, Charros de Jalisco – Ornelas was one of the best bats in Benji Gil’s lineup all week, going 8-for-26 over six games with a solo homer against Panama in the round robin. In the final, Ornelas went 3-for-4 with two walks, a double, a run scored, and three RBIs.
The Netherlands
Derek West, RP, Cangrejeros de Santurce – West made three appearances in the round robin, tossing a scoreless inning against the Tomateros de Culiacan, Charros de Jalisco, and Federales de Chiriqui, striking out four and walking one over those three total innings. In the semifinal against the Charros de Jalisco, West threw 2/3 of an inning, allowing three runs on three hits, striking out two.
Nicaragua
Ronald Medrano, SP, Charros de Jalisco – Medrano started the Charros’ round robin game against the Tomateros de Culiacan, going two innings plus three batters before leaving with an apparent knee injury. He allowed two runs on three hits with a walk and two strikeouts in the appearance. Prior to the championship game, Benji Gil told World Baseball Network, “It was like a lower quad [muscle injury] where it connects with the knee. A slight pull, not a tear. So I think he’s probably, without rushing it, right, they said that he could be ready in 10 days. But I’m thinking it’s a two to three, maybe a four-week injury where he has no more pitching commitments until the WBC. So hopefully that would give him enough time to recover and get himself right. … He’s a key part of that national team.”
Panama
Christian Bethancourt, C, Federales de Chiriqui – Bethancourt, who has appeared in 427 Major League games in his career, went 5-for-17 with four RBIs and played 27 innings behind the plate with one passed ball.
Johan Camargo, IF, Federales de Chiriqui – Camargo showed there’s still some pop left in his bat. The veteran of 427 MLB games hit a homer and drove in six runs, going 7-for-16 in Jalisco.
Allen Cordoba, OF, Tomateros de Culiacan – Batting in the No. 2 spot for the Tomateros, Cordoba scored six runs over the course of the series and went 8-for-22 with a homer and four RBIs.
Paolo Espino, SP, Federales de Chiriqui – Espino’s lone start in Jalisco was not a good one. He threw two innings against the Charros de Jalisco, allowing eight runs on five hits, giving up two homers. He walked five and struck out one.
Miguel Gomez, RP, Federales de Chiriqui – Gomez made one appearance, throwing one inning in relief against the Leones del Escogido and giving up five runs, all of them earned, on three hits and a walk.
Humberto Mejia, SP, Federales de Chiriqui – Mejia made two relief appearances, throwing a total of one inning, allowing three runs on five hits and a walk.
Jose Ramos, OF, Federales de Chiriqui – Ramos played all four games for the Federales in center field, where he had eight putouts and an assist in nine total chances. At the plate, he had 19 at-bats and recorded three singles, a triple, and a homer. The homer came in the 16-15 loss to the Dominican Republic off Travis Lakins.
Jhonny Santos, OF, Federales de Chiriqui – Santos played all four games for the Federales, going 4-for-16 with a solo homer in the 16-15 loss to the Leones del Escogido.
Puerto Rico
Eduardo Rivera, SP, Cangrejeros de Santurce – Rivera started the Cangrejeros games against the Charros de Jalisco, throwing 3 2/3 innings and allowing two runs, one of them earned, on five hits and four walks, taking the loss.
Emmanuel Rivera, IF, Cangrejeros de Santurce – Rivera went 5-for-15, drawing three walks and driving in two runs for the Cangrejeros in five games in Jalisco.
Christian Vazquez, C, Cangrejeros de Santurce – The former Boston Red Sox and Minnesota Twins catcher appeared in all five games for Santurce, though only came up to bat in four of them. He went 4-for-15, scored three runs, and drove in three more, with all three RBIs coming against Panama on Feb. 5.
Photo: Ronald Medrano is expected to be a key member of Nicaragua’s pitching staff at the 2026 World Baseball Classic, but an injury suffered at the Caribbean Series put his participation in jeopardy. (Photo courtesy of the CBPC)
