The 2026 World Baseball Classic begins March 5, but several teams are already prepping for international baseball’s biggest event with slates of exhibition games in February.
While the teams bound for Tokyo’s Pool C are preparing in Asia, Cuba and Nicaragua are the first teams scheduled to hit the field in the Americas with a series of four games beginning Thursday, Feb. 18 and running through Feb. 28 in four different cities in Nicaragua.
The bulk of Cuba’s team departed the island for Nicaragua Monday morning, according to a post on the social media network X byt JIT Deportivo, a Cuban sports media outlet, despite a report earlier in the week that the series might be in jeopardy due to fuel shortages in Cuba and new visa requirements promulgated by the Nicaraguan government.
Coming off a win in Pool A in the 2023 World Baseball Classic via tiebreaker and a run to the semifinals that saw them fall 14-2 to the United States at Miami’s loanDepot Park in a game marked by protests and field invasions, Cuba hopes to again advance out of pool play to the elimination games.
But the question remains: Will Cuba’s roster have sufficient talent to reach the quarterfinals or semifinals in 2026? It’s a question that will be answered in due time, though it’s certainly possible that the answer will be partially revealed over the four games in Nicaragua.
Cuba has a roster of 30 players for the four games in Nicaragua, 19 of whom are not on the roster for the World Baseball Classic that was announced on Feb. 5. Of the six infielders listed on the roster released earlier in the month, only Erisbel Arruebuena and Ariel Martinez will play for Cuba in Nicaragua, while infielders Christian Rodriguez, Yulieski Ramon, and Luis Vincente Mateo will join the team for the exhibition tour. Starting pitchers Josimar Cousin, Julio Robaina, and Denny Larondo also will not be in Nicaragua, nor will the bulk of Cuba’s bullpen for the WBC, including Toronto Blue Jays star Yariel Rodriguez.
De acuerdo a Pelota Cubana, este es el roster de Cuba que viajaría a Nicaragua ???????? para la serie amistosa que inicia el próximo jueves en Masaya.
De esta lista solo 11 pertenece a los 30 que ya están en el roster para el Clásico Mundial. También hay algunos de la reserva. pic.twitter.com/YubTJXHEAz
— 8DeportivoTN8 (@8DeportivoTN8) February 12, 2026
Among the notable players for Cuba and manager German Mesa who will be on the roster for the tour of Nicaragua are pitchers Livan Moinelo, who won the Pacific League MVP award in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball last year with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, and Raidel Martinez, who is a four-time NPB All-Star and has led NPB in saves three times. Moinelo, 30, posted a 1.46 ERA in 167 innings during the 2025 season, striking out 172 while walking just 42, and Martinez has posted a sub-2.00 ERA over each of the last four seasons as a reliever with the Chunichi Dragons and Yomiuri Giants. In eight NPB seasons, Martinez owns a career 1.62 ERA over 367 1/3 innings with 418 strikeouts and just 83 walks.
Nicaragua, meanwhile, has been prepping under manager Dusty Baker since early February, working out at Estadio Nacional Soberania in Managua. Expected to start Thursday’s series opener for Nicaragua is Major League Baseball free agent Erasmo Ramirez, a 35-year-old veteran with 336 games of MLB experience across 14 seasons, where he holds a 4.34 career ERA with 650 strikeouts and 250 walks in 860 career innings, working mostly out of the bullpen the last few seasons after serving as a starter earlier in his career.
Major Leaguers Mark Vientos of the New York Mets, Carlos Rodriguez of the Milwaukee Brewers, and prospects Freddy Zamora and Stiven Cruz of the Brewers, Oscar Rayo of the Kansas City Royals, Ismael Munguia of the Toronto Blue Jays, and Duque Hebbert of the Detroit Tigers all on Nicaragua’s roster for the World Baseball Classic, will not be with the team for the exhibition series, instead joining Dusty Baker’s team in early March from spring training in Florida.
Nicaragua is trying to avoid having to re-qualify for the World Baseball Classic, as they did for the 2026 event after finishing fifth in Pool D in Miami in 2023. Nicaragua went 3-0 in the 2025 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers in Taiwan, defeating Chinese Taipei, Spain, and South Africa to earn a berth in this year’s tournament.
They’ll again play in Miami at loanDepot Park in Pool D, facing Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Israel, and the Netherlands. Cuba has been assigned to Pool C at Estadio Hiram Bithorn in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where they’ll face Puerto Rico, Canada, Panama, and Colombia.
The four exhibition games between Cuba and Nicaragua will be televised on Nicaragua Canal13, Campeones TV37, and Nicarao TV 51 in Nicaragua, and will likely be streamed live on YouTube via the outlet’s page.
Cuba/Nicaragua Exhibition Series Schedule
All times Eastern Standard Time
Feb. 19
5 p.m. – Cuba vs. Nicaragua – Estadio Roberto Clemente – Masaya, Nicaragua
Feb. 22
1 p.m. – Cuba vs. Nicaragua – Estadio Rigoberto Lopez Perez – Leon, Nicaragua
Feb. 25
5 p.m. – Cuba vs. Nicaragua – Estadio Yamil Rios Ugarte – Rivas, Nicaragua
Feb. 28
5 p.m. – Cuba vs. Nicaragua – Estadio Nacional Soberania – Managua, Nicaragua
Photo: Estadio Nacional Soberania in Managua, Nicaragua. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
