BARCELONA, Spain — Luis Patiño against Matteo Bocchi opens the Premier12 Barcelona Qualifier on Friday morning.
Colombia is the highest-ranked team in the field. Italy is the only one that has played a Premier12.
How to watch
Colombia vs. Italy, Premier12 Barcelona Qualifier
Friday, Oct. 9, 12:00 local / 6 a.m. ET
Camp Municipal de Beisbol Carlos Pérez de Rozas, Barcelona
Free on the WBSC YouTube channel outside Spain and Italy.
DAZN carries it for subscribers in Spain and internationally, except in Italy.
RAI Sport carries Italy’s games on digital terrestrial in Italy.
Viva Nicaragua carries the tournament in Nicaragua.
Also on GameTime, the WBSC’s subscription platform, with a tournament pass at $14.99.
Tyler Maun and Sam Dykstra of MLB Pipeline have the English-language call.
The starters
Luis Patiño starts for Colombia. He pitched 45 major league games for San Diego, Tampa Bay and the White Sox, and came to the Rays in the trade that sent Blake Snell to San Diego.
Matteo Bocchi starts for Italy. He pitched for Parma Clima this season and at Texas before that. He played for Italy at the Little League World Series in 2008.
Colombia
World No. 13 and the only team in the field that reached the 2026 World Baseball Classic, where it went 1-3.
Giovanny Urshela manages. Jesús Marriaga is the captain, an outfielder who went 6-for-12 with seven RBIs at the 2025 qualifiers in Tucson.
José Ramos is a Giants prospect. Dayan Frías is a Guardians prospect from Cartagena who trained with Orlando Cabrera growing up.
Outfielder Jaider Morelos arrives from a championship — he hit .473 with four home runs in 27 games for Nada Split, winning the Croatian league.
José Quintana and Michael Arroyo are not on the roster. Carlos Arroyo, Michael’s older brother, is.
Italy
World No. 14, and the only team here with Premier12 experience. Italy went 0-5 in the 2015 edition.
Francisco Cervelli manages. The Azzurri reached the World Baseball Classic semifinals in March.
Alberto Mineo is the captain. Giaconino Lasaracina and Giacomo Taschin are believed to be the first Italian battery in minor league history, both in Toronto’s system. Robel García, the former Cub, is on the roster.
Ettore Giulianelli throws a screwball, which almost nobody does anymore.
Italy trained at the Mets facility in Boca Chica, playing three games against Dominican winter league clubs — a 1-1 tie, a scoreless tie and a loss. Robinson Canó and Aníbal Sánchez took part in the workouts.
What’s at stake
The top two of four teams advance to the 2027 Premier12, which awards two places in the 2028 Olympic tournament at Dodger Stadium — one to the highest-placed Asian team, one to the highest-placed team from Europe or Oceania.
Three of the six Olympic spots are filled: the United States as host, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic through the World Baseball Classic.
The rest of the weekend
Germany vs. Spain — Friday, 1 p.m. ET
Germany vs. Colombia — Saturday, 6 a.m. ET
Spain vs. Italy — Saturday, 1 p.m. ET
Italy vs. Germany — Sunday, 6 a.m. ET
Spain vs. Colombia — Sunday, 1 p.m. ET
