The coaching staff for the 2026 World Baseball Classic Dominican Republic team under manager Albert Pujols was released on March 5 via Zoom and press release on LIDOM.com.
General Manager Nelson Cruz will return for this second World Baseball Classic in 2026 and helped Pujols put together a coaching staff of Plácido Polanco (bench coach) Gilbert Gómez (assistant manager) Fernando Tatis Sr. (hitting coach), Jorge Mejía (assistant hitting coach), Renè Rojas (batting coordinator), Hèctor Borg (first base coach), Tony Diaz (third base coach), Wellington Cepeda (pitching coach), Joel Peralta (assistant pitching coach), and Josè Canó (bullpen coach)
Polanco is a former MLB infielder who played from 1998 to 2013. He was a two-time All-Star, three-time Gold Globe Award winner, and Silver Slugger Award winner. In 2006, he and the Detroit Tigers reached the World Series but lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in five games. Polanco is a bench coach with Pujols for Escogido de Leones, and they were former teammates with the Cardinals.
Polanco made his debut with the Cardinals, played with the Philadelphia Phillies, and ended his career with the Miami Marlins. His career numbers are 104 home runs, 723 RBI, 81 stolen bases, and a slash line of .297/.343/.397 in 7,214 at-bats. ‘
Gómez has managed Tigres del Licey the past two seasons in LIDOM. He will also be the manager of the Brooklyn Cyclones, the New York Mets’ High-A affiliate, for the second straight year. This will be his seventh season as a coach in the Mets organization.
Gómez won the LIDOM championship in his first season with Tigres del Licey in 2024. They were also the runners up in the 2024 Caribbean Series with a 3-0 loss to Venezuela, which was represented by Liga de Beisbol Venezuela champion Tiburones de La Guaria.
This past season Tigres del Licey lost the LIDOM championship to Leones del Escogido, who were managed by Pujols.
Fernando Tatis Sr. managed Estrellas Orientales this past season in LIDOM and was named Manager of the Year for his efforts in the 2024-2025 season. Fernando helped guide Estrellas Orientales to the best LIDOM regular season record of 30-20. They lost in the round robin after going 5-10.
Tatis Sr. is the father of San Diego Padres star outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr. Tatis Jr. has played a few games with Estrellas Orientales in LIDOM. The older Tatis also had an MLB career that included hitting two grand slams in an inning as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals in 1999 against the Los Angeles Dodgers. That has never been replicated in an MLB game since that day, and Tatis Sr. stands alone in those record books.
Mejía never played in MLB after signing with the Oakland Athletics out of the Dominican Republic in 2002. He has coaching experience in the Washington Nationals organization as a hitting coach in several different levels. In 2021, Mejía was the hitting coach at their Low-A affiliate, the Fredericksburg Nationals. He also has experience in LIDOM as the hitting coach for Leones del Escogido.
Rojas was also a hitting coach in the Cardinals system with the Dominican Summer League Cardinals. He also has the same experience with the Houston Astros and was the hitting coach for their High-A affiliate, the Asheville Tourists in 2021. He also coached as a hitting coach under Pujols for Leones del Escogido this past winter.
Borg has experience as the San Francisco Giants DSL team coach, their Class-A affiliate, the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes manager, and the Arizona Complex League Giants. Borg played two years of minor league baseball with the Giants from 2005-2006 and made as high as the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes.
Diaz has MLB coaching experience with the Colorado Rockies from 2017-2018 as their first base coach. He then was a third base coach and assistant bench coach with the Minnesota Twins from 2019-2024. Diaz also coached under Pujols as the field coordinator this past winter.
According to a team announcement, Cepeda was hired as the Arizona Diamondbacks bullpen coach and assistant pitching coach on November 28, 2024. He was a former pitcher in their system from 1997-2000 and made it as high as their High-A affiliate, the High Desert Mavericks. Cepeda was also the bullpen coach for the Miami Marlins from 2020-2024 and coached with Team Dominican Republic in the 2023 WBC.
Peralta is a former MLB pitcher who signed with the Oakland Athletics as an amateur free agent in 1996. They released him after the 1998 season and signed a minor league deal with the Anaheim Angels before the 1999 season. Peralta made his MLB debut with them in 2005 and threw his last MLB pitch for the Cubs in 2016. He spent most of his career with the Tampa Bay Rays from 2011 to 2014.
Peralta’s career MLB numbers are 648 innings, 612 strikeouts, and a 4.03 ERA. He also pitched 6.2 scoreless innings and five strikeouts in his brief postseason career.
Canó was on the 2013 Team Dominican Republic WBC coaching staff, which won its lone title with a 3-0 win against Team Puerto Rico at AT&T Park in San Francisco, California.
He was also an MLB pitcher for the Houston Astros for six games in 1989. Canó pitched in the Chinese Professional Baseball League from 1992 to 1994 with the Uni-President Lions and the Wei Chaun Dragons from 1998 to 1999.
_____
Related Articles
Early Preview: Dominican Republic’s 2026 WBC Potential Lineup
