New York Mets reliever Huascar Brazobán will pitch for his native country, the Dominican Republic, in the World Baseball Classic for the first time, according to their roster announcement on Feb. 5
Team Dominican Republic’s #WorldBaseballClassic roster has been officially announced! ??
FULL ROSTER: https://t.co/H9EmLqiRQW pic.twitter.com/2hqGPlWFlF
— World Baseball Classic (@WBCBaseball) February 6, 2026
Brazobán, 36, was born in Villa Mella and has played in Liga de Béisbol Profesional de la República Dominicana for six seasons, including this past winter with the Gigantes del Cibao. He had a 2.57 ERA in seven games for the Gigantes del Cibao. In 2025, Brazoban pitched 63 innings with 57 strikeouts and a 3.57 ERA in his first full season with the Mets.
The Mets played the Toronto Blue Jays early in the 2025 season, and Brazobán spoke to World Baseball Network about his performance and Dominican culture.
“I believed in myself and looked at a lot of videos to make myself better on the Mets,” Brazobán told World Baseball Network in April.
Brazobán made his MLB debut with the Miami Marlins in 2022 and was traded to the Mets at the 2024 trade deadline.
“It’s very great to see all of these people supporting us,” Brazobán said. “It gets me pumped up and very emotional.”
The loud crowds at Citi Field were a huge change from the empty crowds he was pitching in front of with the Marlins. Brazobán will now return to his old stadium for the World Baseball Classic. The Dominican Republic is playing in Pool D at loanDepot Park in Miami.
“It’s very great to see all of these Dominican fans supporting the team,” Brazobán told World Baseball Network. “To all of the Dominican fans, keep on supporting and rooting for us.”
Jeremy Hefner, the Mets’ pitching coach at the time, was essential in helping Brazobán put together a career year.
“We tried to uptick the changeup usage because we do value that pitch a lot,” Hefner told World Baseball Network. “The main thing with him is trusting himself and trusting his stuff. It’s good enough that he doesn’t have to nibble. And he can come right after guys and get outs.”
Brazobán’s changeup usage increased by nine percent from 2024 to 2025, going from 29% to 38%. He also increased his sinker usage from 25% to 37%. With these adjustments, he threw his cutter and fastball 12% and 10% less, respectively.
He recorded 35 of his 57 strikeouts with his changeup last season. It was the most strikeouts he’s recorded with the pitch in his career.
Brazobán signed with the Colorado Rockies out of the Dominican Republic in 2011 as an international free agent. His road to the show was bumpy, and he elected to leave the Rockies organization after the 2017 season and become a free agent. Brazobán spent two seasons in the Atlantic League with the Lancaster Barnstormers in 2018 and the High Point Rockers in 2021. He didn’t play in 2019 due to visa issues. In 2020, he did not play because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2022, he signed a minor league deal with the Marlins and started in Triple-A Jacksonville. He impressed enough to make his MLB debut on July 24, 2022, against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
