Under the guidance of manager Benji Gil and a front office team that is returning for the 2026 World Baseball Classic, Mexico achieved the country’s greatest success in a world championship ever at the 2023 WBC.
In addition to bringing back Gil, Rodrigo Lopez will return as general manager, Jorge Campillo will return as sports manager, and Mariana Patraca will return as operations manager for Mexico’s 2026 entry at the WBC. Can they repeat or build on that success in 2023?
Mexico has a long baseball history, and the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol, the country’s summer league, celebrates its 100th season in 2025. With less than a year to go, it’s not too early to project a potential roster for Mexico’s 2026 WBC squad.
Pitching – In 2023, Julio Urias led a group that included Taijuan Walker, Jose Urquidy, Luis Cessa, and Patrick Sandoval.
Urias is obviously the wildcard here, as he is suspended until the All-Star Break of the 2025 season under Major League Baseball’s domestic violence policy. It’s the second time he’s been suspended under the policy, and he hasn’t pitched since the end of the 2023 season.
Obviously, Urias is an elite pitcher… when he’s pitching. But having not pitched in a game in a year and a half, it’s hard to say where his game might be at the moment. It’s hard to say whether Urias will pitch in MLB again, as it’s unlikely that a team wants to take the public relations hit they would undoubtedly incur by signing the only two-time violator of the MLB domestic violence policy.
If Urias signs in the LMB, he has the potential to be as dominant as Trevor Bauer was for the Diablos Rojos del Mexico in the 2024 season. Couple that with a strong winter season, likely in the Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacifico, and Urias could have a full season of preparation heading into the 2026 WBC, making it, essentially, a postseason event for him.
Aside from Urias, Luis Cessa’s ability has seen a downturn since the 2023 WBC. He left following Mexico’s win the quarterfinals to get ready for the 2023 MLB season with Cincinnati, which was his final season in the show. He pitched the 2024 season in Triple-A, but had a great winter season in Mexico with the Yaquis de Obregon. He’s in Monterrey with the Sultanes for the 2025 LMB season, and a good year could earn him a spot on the 2026 WBC roster, though he’d likely be used as a long reliever or a starter against weaker opponents.
Erubiel Armenta appeared in one game at the 2023 WBC, pitching against Great Britain, having made the team after a stellar winter season with Los Mochis in the LAMP. Having missed the last two seasons due to injury, the 25-year-old’s 2025 season will dictate whether he’s a candidate for the WBC. He started the year at High-A Clearwater.
Jose Urquidy, who pitched parts of three seasons for the Houston Astros, underwent Tommy John surgery and won’t return until late in 2025, so it’s unlikely Urquidy will be on the WBC roster.
Reliever Giovanny Gallegos, who was a stalwart in the bullpen in 2023, is dealing with shoulder impingement and is on the 60-day IL to start 2025, so he’s another pitcher who’s injury status will likely dictate whether or not he pitches for Mexico in 2026.
Outside the MLB sphere of influence, David Reyes is an outside possibility for Mexico if he can maintain his dominance. The Los Mochis, Sinaloa, native has pitched his entire career in Mexico, but showed vastly improved stuff over the past year, throwing 223 innings last year between Veracruz of the LMB, Mexicali of the LAMP, and the Caribbean Series, posting a 2.14 ERA and 0.910 WHIP across 34 starts.
Manny Barreda, who made three MLB appearances for Baltimore in 2021, has been a good starter in the Mexican leagues since leaving MLB, but has struggled on winter ball’s biggest stage at times, making one start at the 2022 Caribbean Series in Santo Domingo where he allowed three runs on three hits in 2 1/3 innings against the Navegantes de Magallanes. In 2024, Barreda struggled against Curacao, allowing a three-run triple to Didi Gregorius that put him on the hook for the loss, but bounced back with a good outing against Nicaragua’s Gigantes de Rivas.
Reyes and Barreda are likely to be candidates for the roster, as are two or three other pitchers out of Mexico’s professional leagues.
Ultimately, pitching will be the biggest question for Mexico. Will Urias be available and ready? Will there be sufficient bullpen arms to carry the team should they make the knockout round?
Behind the Plate – Austin Barnes of the Los Angeles Dodgers handled the catching duties in 2023, batting .278/.389/.409 with four runs in five games. He got off to a slow start with the Dodgers that season, but he’s still probably the best backstop Mexico could put out there.
Alejandro Kirk missed the 2023 World Baseball Classic for his daughter’s birth, but is expected to play in 2023, Our Esquina reported yesterday, potentially giving Mexico a pair of big leaguers calling pitches.
Alfredo Hurtado caught three games at the 2025 Caribbean Series for Mexico’s Charros de Jalisco, but his offense is lacking, with the 27-year-old hitting .239/.322/.333 in 333 games between Mexico’s two leagues and the Caribbean Series over the last six years. Hermosillo native Alejandro Flores caught two games for Mexico at the 2025 Caribbean Series, but his offense is weaker than Hurtado’s.
If Kirk is the starter behind the plate Barnes returns, perhaps the offense of Hurtado and Flores isn’t a concern, as they’d likely only see spot duty behind the plate. If either Barnes or Kirk chooses not to play in 2026, Benji Gil is going to need to find a second catcher with some pop.
Around the Infield – In 2023, Mexico had an infield full of MLB players, and 2026 should be similar. Two years ago, Mexico had Jonathan Aranda, Joey Meneses, Isaac Paredes, Rowdy Tellez, Alan Trejo, and Luis Urias on the roster. All of them are possibilities to return.
Though Meneses has fallen out of the major leagues, he was in camp with the New York Mets and remains in the organization, and he’ll likely be called up from Triple-A Syracuse at some point this season.
In addition to Luis Urias (who is not related to Julio), his brother Ramon, of the Baltimore Orioles, is capable of playing second base, third base, and short, and has put up slightly better offensive numbers than Luis.
Another player to watch could be Mateo Gil. The son of manager Benji Gil never made it to the majors, rising as high as Triple-A in the Mets organization, but had a great winter playing for his dad with the Charros de Jalisco, and is spending the summer there as well. He batted .312/.370/.435 across 138 at-bats and drove in 22 runs in 42 games during the winter. He batted cleanup in the order at the 2025 Caribbean Series, driving in three runs in 22 at-bats.
Working in the Garden – Mexico’s most recognizable face at the 2023 WBC, that of Randy Arozarena, was born in Cuba, but he’s become an icon of Mexican baseball after his electric performance two years ago. Given citizenship in 2022 after personally asking former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Arozarena’s personality in the dugout and on camera and play in the field and at the plate made him a fan favorite, regardless of who you might be rooting for. He’ll be playing for Mexico unless he physically can’t.
Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran is coming off the best season of his career in 2024, and given his development into a bonafide star in Boston, you’d have to think Mexico will want him to return. His former teammate in the Boston outfield, Alex Verdugo, appears to be returning to form with the Atlanta Braves after a down year in New York in 2023.
Alek Thomas, who was on the roster in 2023, missed the majority of 2024 due to injury, and hasn’t really shown himself to be an everyday MLB player. Should Mexico want to make a change in the outfield, Thomas is likely the guy who would find himself without a chair when the music stops.
Outlook – Assigned to Pool B at Daikin Park in Houston, Mexico will face Brazil, Great Britain, Italy, and the United States in group play.
While the game between the U.S. and Mexico will be the marquee matchup in Houston, it’ll be less consequential to Mexico’s chances of advancing than the game against Italy, which will have a lineup comprised largely of American-born and trained players. They’re not a team to sleep on, having advanced out of Pool A in 2023 via the tiebreaker.
Ultimately, Mexico will go as far as its pitching will allow. They’ll have a powerful enough lineup to again make the knockout round, but will they have enough pitching to advance? The big problem — and it’s a problem that every team save for perhaps the U.S., Japan, Venezuela, and the Dominican Republic face — is that there simply isn’t enough good pitching out there.
If Julio Urias returns to form, expect Mexico to advance from pool play. He’d be the No. 1 starter and likely be the guy Gil puts on the hill against a loaded U.S. lineup. Behind Urias, Gil could throw a pitcher of Manny Barreda and Luis Cessa, or perhaps even David Reyes in the games against Brazil and Great Britain and expect a favorable outcome.
There are more than 10 months, though, between now and the first pitch of Pool Play at the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
Photo: Randy Arozarena of Team Mexico walks in the dugout during the World Baseball Classic Pool C game against Team Great Britain at Chase Field on March 14, 2023 in Phoenix, Arizona. Mexico defeated Great Britain 2-1. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)
