Last night, the World Baseball Classic rosters were released. Seeing that got me really fired up, especially considering how much fun the last one was. There are current and former Nationals players and coaches littered across the rosters. I wanted to take a look at some of the Nats ties to this amazing event.
The Nats current roster is not exactly littered with participants. Only two players will be leaving big league camp to play in the event. Harry Ford will be playing for Great Britain and Matt
Mervis will suit up for Team Israel. Both players participated at the last WBC as well, so they are not new to this.
While both players are born in the US, they have ties to the countries they are representing. Ford has British parents and has represented the country for a while now. Mervis is representing Israel because of his Jewish faith.
It is interesting timing for them though. Both Mervis and Ford will be leaving camp while competing for a roster spot. Mervis is part of a wide open first base competition. As a left handed bat, his main competition is likely to be Abimelec Ortiz. Mervis leaving camp could provide an opportunity for Ortiz to lock down a job. The same thing goes for Keibert Ruiz, who will get a chance to show what he has without Ford around.
Harry Ford is one of the biggest names on the Britain roster. He will co-captain the team along with Yankees star Jazz Chisholm. Ford was one of the breakout stars of the last competition. The event elevated his stock as a prospect, with Ford swinging a hot bat. He hit a key home run against Colombia, which was his signature moment.
However, these current players are not the only people with Nationals ties participating at the event. There are plenty of former Nats who are in the competition. Team USA has a couple of them, with Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber. Other big stars like Juan Soto will be playing at the event as well.
There are also some lesser known former Nats at the WBC. Cult hero Joey Meneses will be representing Mexico and Erasmo Ramirez will be with Nicaragua. Some of the coaches also have ties to the Nats as well. A pair of 2019 Nationals will be coaching at the event. Gerardo Parra will be the first base coach for Venezuela and Yan Gomes will be the catching coach for Brazil. Here is a list of all the former and current Nats at the WBC.
There are a lot of forgotten Nats on that list! The WBC is such a special event that I had so much fun watching in 2023. Hopefully this WBC is just as exciting as the last one. However, I am rooting for America to come out on top this time.
Who is your favorite former or current Nat at the event and who are some guys that you totally forgot about that are participating? Let me know down below. Also, who do you guys think will win the WBC this year? Can Japan repeat, or will Team USA or the Dominican Republic be too strong? The WBC starts in about a month and the final is on March 17th in Miami.
