Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. and Kansas City Royals third baseman Maikel García will join the Tiburones de La Guaira for the 2025-26 Liga Venezolana de Beisbol Profesional season and make their debuts Friday, November 28, against Ozzie Guillén’s Tigres de Aragua. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. EST at Estadio Jorge Luis García Carneiro in La Guaira, Venezuela.
¿Quién es Ronald Acuña Jr.? Nadie conoce a ese tipo…😅
MACUTOOO ¿Están listos? 🔥🦍 LA BESTIA ESTÁ AQUÍ‼️
Vamos Pa’Encima @ronaldacunajr24 🥁🦈#TiburonesReport pic.twitter.com/M3o1zJftNk
— Tiburones Report (@TiburonesReport) November 28, 2025
El Diario confirmed that Acuña Jr. and García will suit up Saturday night for La Guaira.
#28Nov | 🦈⚾ Los grandeliga venezolanos Ronald Acuña Jr. y Maikel García jugarán hoy su primer encuentro de la temporada 2025-2026 de la LVBP con Tiburones de la Guaira (@tiburonesbbc_).
El conjunto escualo recibirá este viernes a @TigresOficiales 🐯 en el estadio Forum La… pic.twitter.com/69hIvoGYf7
— El Diario (@eldiario) November 28, 2025
All games for the 2025-26 LVBP season stream on BeisbolPlay with a paid subscription through the final out of the league’s best-of-seven championship series in January ahead of the 2026 Caribbean Series in Caracas, Venezuela.
Title: Royals Spring Baseball
Image ID: 25047785498659
Article: Kansas City Royals infielder Maikel Garcia smiles during spring training baseball practice at the team’s training facility Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025, in Surprise, Ariz. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Jeff Duda of World Baseball Network also reported on November 20 that Acuña Jr. and García would join the Tiburones for their November 28 debut date.
LVBP Roundup: Águilas de Zulia Soar into 1st; Ronald Acuña Jr. Confirms Start Date
Both players received permission from their Major League organizations to participate in Venezuela this winter and remain strong candidates to play under national team manager Omar López for the 2026 World Baseball Classic in March.
Venezuela will compete in Pool D of the 2026 WBC alongside the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Israel, and the Netherlands from March 6-11 at loanDepot Park in Miami, Fla.
Pool D — loanDepot Park, Miami
March 6
Game 1 — Netherlands vs. Venezuela, 12 p.m. EDT
Game 2 — Nicaragua vs. Dominican Republic, 7 p.m. EDT
March 7
Game 3 — Nicaragua vs. Netherlands, 12 p.m. EDT
Game 4 — Israel vs. Venezuela, 7 p.m. EDT
March 8
Game 5 — Netherlands vs. Dominican Republic, 12 p.m. EDT
Game 6 — Nicaragua vs. Israel, 7 p.m. EDT
March 9
Game 7 — Dominican Republic vs. Israel, 12 p.m. EDT
Game 8 — Venezuela vs. Nicaragua, 7 p.m. EDT
March 10
Game 9 — Israel vs. Netherlands, 7 p.m. EDT
March 11
Game 10 — Dominican Republic vs. Venezuela, 8 p.m. EDT
The Tiburones, managed by Marco Davalillo, enter Friday at 17-18 and sit fifth in the LVBP standings, three games behind first-place Águilas del Zulia at 19-14.
Acuña Jr. previously played with La Guaira during the 2022-23 and 2023-24 LVBP seasons. García, from La Sabana, Venezuela, has appeared for the Tiburones in four straight seasons from 2020-24.
Over 129 career LVBP games, García owns a .351 batting line with 162 hits, 30 doubles, seven triples, six home runs, 75 RBI, 19 stolen bases, 93 walks, 70 strikeouts, and a .941 OPS across 563 plate appearances. The 25-year-old also earned his first All-Star selection and a Gold Glove Award during the 2025 season with Kansas City.
García played all 160 games for the Royals in 2025, batting .286 with 170 hits, 39 doubles, five triples, 16 home runs, 74 RBI, 23 stolen bases, 62 walks, and a .800 OPS.
Acuña, 27, completed his eighth Major League season in 2025. His past two years have included multiple injuries, beginning with a torn left ACL suffered on May 27, 2024. He appeared in only 49 games that season, batting .250 with 48 hits, eight doubles, one triple, four home runs, 15 RBI, 16 stolen bases, 27 walks, 53 strikeouts, and a .716 OPS.
He was moved from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day IL on June 9, 2024, before being activated on November 4, 2024. Acuña missed the 2025 Grapefruit League slate while completing his rehab and did not debut until May 23 against the San Diego Padres.
He later landed on the 10-day injured list on July 30 with right Achilles tendon inflammation, returning on August 15. Acuña finished the 2025 season with a .290 average over 95 games, recording 98 hits, 12 doubles, one triple, 21 home runs, 42 RBI, nine stolen bases, 71 walks, 102 strikeouts, and a .935 OPS.
Across three LVBP seasons with La Guaira, Acuña has hit .381 in 51 games with 72 hits, 12 doubles, two triples, 11 home runs, 38 RBI, 19 stolen bases, 35 walks, 40 strikeouts, and a 1.150 OPS.
In eight MLB seasons with Atlanta, Acuña has been selected an All-Star in 2019, 2021–23, and 2025, won the National League Most Valuable Player Award in 2023, earned All-MLB First Team honors in 2023, captured the NL Rookie of the Year Award in 2018, won three Silver Slugger Awards (2019, 2020, 2023), earned the NL Hank Aaron Award in 2023, received the NL Comeback Player of the Year Award in 2025, and led the NL in stolen bases in 2019 and 2023.
The 23rd Pepsi Jonrón Festival will begin at 6 p.m. AST on December 1 at Estadio José Bernardo Pérez in Valencia, Venezuela, home of the Navegantes del Magallanes.
Details for the event are available here. Tickets can be purchased here and here.Participants include García, Acuña, Jackson Chourio, Willson Contreras, Wilyer Abreu, Yasiel Puig, Andrés Chaparro, Salvador Pérez, and Francisco Rentería.
Photo: Atlanta Braves’ Ronald Acuña Jr. takes part in a baseball clinic for children at the Hugo Chávez baseball park in the Petare neighborhood of Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Cristian Hernandez)
