(March 3, 2026, New York) – When the World Baseball Classic begins on Thursday, March 5, the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball will be represented by 32 players or coaches who have played in the ALPB.
The World Baseball Classic will include 20 teams from around the world competing to become the World Baseball Classic Champion. Pool play will be held in Miami and Houston as well as San Juan, Puerto Rico and Tokyo. The semi-finals and championship rounds will be played in Miami and will conclude on March 17. Japan won the most recent World Baseball Classic in 2023, defeating the United States 3-2 in the championship game. Japan’s Shohei Ohtani was named the 2023 World Baseball Classic Most Valuable Player.
The 32 ALPB players will be representing 14 countries with Great Britain claiming five ALPB players including OF Justin Wylie (Gastonia Ghost Peppers) who led the ALPB in 2025 with 125 runs scored, 101 RBI and 89 walks.
The 2025 Atlantic League Pitcher of the Year, Noah Skirrow of the Lancaster Stormers, will be pitching for his native Canada. Skirrow went 15-3 for the Stormers in 2025 with a 3.99 ERA while leading the league in wins and games started and finishing second in strikeouts.
Other 2025 ALPB players who will appear in the World Baseball Classic are LHP Josh Hendrickson (High Point Rockers) who will hurl for Australia, Great Britain LHP Nick Wells (Gastonia), and Israel LHP Rob Kaminsky (Staten Island FerryHawks). York Revolution catcher J.C. Ramirez will play for Nicaragua while fellow catcher Lyle Lin, who was with the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs last season, will play for Chinese Taipei.
The Long Island Ducks will be represented by nine players in the World Baseball Classic with INF Rixon Wingrove playing for Australia, RHP Robert Stock and RHP Zack Weiss with Israel, INF Ruben Tejada with Panama and RHP Kai-Wei Lin and INF Tzu-Wei Lin playing for Chinese Taipei. In addition, former Ducks pitcher Jair Jurrjens will serve as the pitching coach for the Netherlands and the United States’ first base coach will be George Lombard who was with the Ducks in 2009. Jacob Robson, who has signed with the Ducks for the 2026 season, will represent Canada after playing for Gastonia in 2024.
Gastonia has five former players on World Baseball Classic rosters including RHP Todd Van Steensel (Australia), RHP Graham Spraker (Great Britain) and RHP Donovan Benoit (Great Britain). In addition, both Wylie and Robson have suited up for Gastonia in recent seasons.
Four former High Point Rockers made World Baseball Classic rosters including Hendrickson (Australia), LHP Alberto Baldonado (Panama), INF Dante Bichette, Jr. (Brazil) and RHP Huascar Brazoban who will represent the Dominican Republic squad. He played for the York Revolution in 2018 and the Rockers in 2021.
In addition to Skirrow with Canada, Lancaster has placed INF Nick Ward with Great Britain and former Stormer great Blake Gailen is the hitting coach for Israel.
Former Staten Island pitcher Julio Teheran will be pitching for Colombia along with former Charleston Dirty Bird reliever RHP Pedro Garcia and LHP Adrian Almeida (York Revolution, Charleston).
Among the former ALPB players who will hold coaching roles in the upcoming World Baseball Classic are Puerto Rico bench coach Alex Cintron who played at Sugar Land in 2012, Nicaragua pitching coach Len Picota who was with Nashua in 2001 and Italy batting practice pitcher Jack Santora who played for Newark from 2003-06. Lipso Navo, a stalwart for three ALPB teams from 1998-2006, will coach third for Italy and Chinese Taipei bullpen coach will be former New York Yankees starter RHP Chien-Min Wang who was with Southern Maryland in 2015.
Eight of the ALPB’s 10 current members are represented on World Baseball Classic rosters while other participants played for former members Nashua, Camden, Newark, and Sugar Land.
A complete listing of the World Baseball Classic /ALPB players follows:
World Baseball Classic Rosters 2026
Australia
LHP Josh Hendrickson, High Point 2025
RHP Todd Van Steensel, Gastonia 2023
INF Rixon Wingrove, Long Island 2024
Brazil
1B Dante Bichette, Jr., High Point 2019
Canada
RHP Noah Skirrow, Lancaster 2025 (2025 ALPB Pitcher of the Year)
OF Jacob Robson, Gastonia 2024, Long Island 2026
Chinese Taipei
RHP Kai-Wei Lin, Long Island, 2022
C Lyle Lin, Southern Maryland 2025
INF Tzu-Wei Lin, Long Island 2022-23
Bullpen Coach: Chien-Min Wang, Southern Maryland 2015
Colombia
LHP Adrian Almeida, York 2022, Charleston 2024
RHP Julio Teheran, Staten Island 2022
RHP Pedro Garcia, Charleston 2024
Dominican Republic
RHP Huascar Brazoban, Lancaster 2018, High Point 2021
Great Britain
LHP Nick Wells, Southern Maryland 2022, Gastonia 2023-25
INF Nick Ward, Lancaster 2025
OF Justin Wylie, Gastonia 2024-25
RHP Graham Spraker, Gastonia 2023
RHP Donovan Benoit, Gastonia 2025
Israel
LHP Rob Kaminsky, Staten Island, 2024-25
RHP Robert Stock, Long Island 2023
RHP Zack Weiss, Long Island 2019
Hitting coach Blake Gailen, Lancaster 2012-21
Italy
Batting Practice pitcher Jack Santora, Newark 2003-06
Third base coach Lipso Nava, Somerset, Camden, Newark 1998-2006
Netherlands
Pitching coach Jair Jurrjens, Long Island 2018
Nicaragua
RHP JC Ramirez, York 2025
Pitching coach Len Picota, Nashua 2001
Panama
LHP Alberto Baldonado, High Point 2019
INF Ruben Tejada, Long Island 2023
Puerto Rico
Bench Coach Alex Cintron, Sugar Land 2012
United States
First base coach George Lombard, Long Island 2009
ALPB Players by Country
Great Britain 5
Chinese Taipei 4
Israel 4
Australia 3
Colombia 3
Canada 2
Italy 2
Nicaragua 2
Panama 2
Brazil 1
Dominican Republic 1
Netherlands 1
Puerto Rico 1
United States 1