WBC 2026: Bitterness turns into celebration for Puerto Rico

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — For weeks, resentment stained the World Baseball Classic’s impending return to Puerto Rico. Bubbling excitement on the island turned into anger when red tape unexpectedly prevented a few of the brightest Puerto Rican stars from participating in the tournament at the eleventh hour. In late January, the rage had risen enough for José Quiles, president of the Puerto Rico Baseball Federation, to threaten to withdraw the team from the competition altogether.

But all that was forgotten by first pitch Friday night. It wasn’t the roster the 18,793 people in attendance at Estadio Hiram Bithorn — and the millions across the archipelago and diaspora — had envisioned. They had anticipated Francisco Lindor, Carlos Correa and Javier Báez, the most accomplished Puerto Rico-born players in Major League Baseball, at center stage, shining on their homeland. But that didn’t matter once the Puerto Rican team, in its first game as a WBC host since 2013, took the field against Colombia.

The frustration had dissipated, replaced by the traditional rhythmic percussion sounds and full-throated cheers during Puerto Rico’s 5-0 win to begin Pool A play.

“We’re not going to bow our heads,” Puerto Rico manager Yadier Molina said in Spanish. “We trust our talent, we trust our pitching, we trust the defense. We’re going to score. We’re going to run the bases. We believe that these guys are ready for this event.”

The Puerto Ricans — all with hair or beards bleached blond, continuing the Team Rubio tradition that began in the 2017 WBC — are light on high-profile names and heavy on youngsters still seeking to establish their foothold at the sport’s highest level.

They entered the tournament with the same goal as the teams from the first five iterations of this tournament: becoming the first Puerto Rican squad to win the WBC championship (the team finished as runner-up in 2013 and 2017). But they also arrived with an objective unique to this group: proving they are good enough to represent this proud baseball nation with the second-most wins in WBC history.

“I compare this team to the team in 2017, which was the first tournament for many of us, and we were able to do big things,” Puerto Rico closer Edwin Díaz said in Spanish. “I believe that all of us, including myself, have the same hunger to win.”

All the way back in November, PR team officials knew they would be without Los Angeles Dodgers utility man Enrique Hernández after he underwent offseason elbow surgery. But more blows landed as the offseason concluded.

Insurance qualification had become stricter since the last WBC, one in which Díaz — now with the Dodgers, but then with the New York Mets — suffered a season-ending knee injury celebrating Puerto Rico’s win over the Dominican Republic and Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve missed the season’s first seven weeks because of a thumb injury sustained during the tournament. Puerto Rico felt the effects more than any other WBC team.

Lindor and Correa were notified they were denied insurance in late January, leaving gaping holes in Puerto Rico’s lineup. A last-ditch offer from renowned Puerto Rican music artist Bad Bunny to cover the two stars through a different insurance company was not approved by their agencies or teams.

Catcher Victor Caratini and reliever Alexis Diaz were also denied insurance. Two-time All-Star right-hander Jose Berríos was denied insurance for pool play, but he could potentially join the team for the quarterfinals. The situation could have been worse — relievers Jovani Moran, Luis Quiñones and Yacksel Ríos were initially denied insurance before the decisions were overturned.

Then came another blow: Báez was ineligible due to a three-year suspension he received for testing positive for marijuana during the 2023 WBC.

Adding former All-Stars Nolan Arenado (a potential future Hall of Famer) and Willi Castro to this year’s team helped cushion the setback, but disappointment was inevitable. Lindor, Correa, Báez and Berríos have multiple All-Star nods. Díaz and Arenado are the only players on the current team with that distinction. Team officials — headlined by general manager Carlos Beltran, with Edgar Martinez, Juan Gonzalez and Sandy Alomar Jr. on Molina’s coaching staff — carry more cachet than the players.

“It hurts,” Molina said. “But we’re focused on the guys that are here who are ready to represent, to show the people of Puerto Rico that we can count on them.”

The group, with 39-year-old captain Martin Maldonado behind the plate for his final games as a player, proved that in its first outing on home soil. Veteran left-hander Jose Quintana, the top pitcher in Colombian baseball history, held Puerto Rico hitless in his three-inning start; the team’s first hit of the tournament didn’t come until the fifth frame, a single from right fielder Carlos Cortes off left-hander Adrian Almeida.

The floodgates opened from there; Puerto Rico erupted for five runs on five hits and an error to ignite the sellout crowd. Four innings later, Díaz emerged from the bullpen to his signature trumpet-fueled entrance to secure the final three outs in the crucial win.

“It was electric out there,” said Puerto Rico starter Seth Lugo, who tossed four scoreless innings. “Every inning, you could feel the fans.”

Next up for Puerto Rico is a matchup with Panama on Saturday night. Despite the prominent absences, the team opened as co-favorite in Pool A alongside Canada. In the knockout rounds, Puerto Rico would assume the role of underdog against the tournament’s star-studded heavyweights — but its players are out to prove they belong.

“I see this as a young team who is very hungry and has a lot of desire to win,” said Hernández, in uniform from head to toe Friday after flying from Arizona to be with the team, in Spanish. “People say the team is not ‘complete,’ but if there’s something that makes us Puerto Ricans, it’s that we take advantage to the maximum.”