Francisco Lindor named Puerto Rico’s WBC captain

Two days after Aaron Judge was named as Team USA’s captain for the World Baseball Classic, Mets star Francisco Lindor revealed his captaincy for his beloved Puerto Rico.

Lindor broke the news of his captaincy on his Instagram account. The 2026 World Baseball Classic will be held next March. Pool play will be held in Puerto Rico, Houston, Tokyo and Miami, beginning with Tokyo from March 5-10. The other three sites will hold pool play from March 6-11.

“Honored to be captain of Team Puerto Rico for the 2026 World Baseball Classic,” Lindor wrote on his Instagram page.

He added an emoji of the Puerto Rican flag and a sentence in Spanish. “Vamos mi borinquen!” (Let’s go, my borinquen.”

The indigenous Taino people of Puerto Rico referred to the island as Borikén. Many folks of Puerto Rican descent refer to themselves as Boricuas, Borinqueño or Borincano.

Francisco Lindor, Puerto Rico seek first WBC title

Francisco Lindor made his WBC debut in 2017, helping Puerto Rico reach the championship game. The United States won that title. Because of the COVID pandemic, the next WBC wasn’t held until 2023. Shohei Ohtani led Japan over Mike Trout and Team USA for the 2023 title.

“It’s something special, getting a chance to represent our country,” Judge told the New York media on Monday. “I’m just thinking about all the brave men and women that have fought for this country and laid their lives down for us to get a chance to go out here and play a game. It’s a pretty humbling experience.”

St. Louis Cardinals legend Yadier Molina will manage Puerto Rico for the second consecutive WBC. Carlos Beltran is Puerto Rico’s general manager for the 2026 Classic. Puerto Rico’s Hiram Bithorn Stadium will play host to Pool A, which features the hosts and Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Panama.

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Albert Pujols, another Cardinals legend, will manage Team Dominican Republic for the first time. Nelson Cruz is serving as the Dominican Republic’s general manager for the second consecutive WBC.

The Dominican will look for its second WBC title and first since 2013. Pujols’ crew will be in Pool D with Israel, Netherlands, Nicaragua and Venezuela at Miami’s loanDepot park.

Mark DeRosa, Benjamin Gil return

Mark DeRosa will return as Team USA’s manager for the second consecutive tournament. Former Marlins GM Mike Hill will serve as Team USA’s GM.

“Getting the chance to share the clubhouse and dugout with USA’s greatest staff and players was one of the highlights of my life,” DeRosa said. “I’m extremely grateful and fired up to get another opportunity to put ‘USA’ across my chest come March.”

Mexico, which had its greatest WBC finish in 2023, also will retain its manager. Benjamin Gil returns as manager after leading Mexico to a close loss against eventual champion Japan in the 2023 WBC semifinals.

The Mexican Baseball Federation announced on Wednesday that former MLB pitcher Rodrigo Lopez will return as Team Mexico’s GM. Jorge Campillo will return as Mexico’s sporting director. Mariana Patraca will return as Mexico’s director of operations.

Mexico has not named its captain yet. The U.S. and Mexico will be in Pool B together. They’ll be grouped with Brazil, Great Britain and Italy at Houston’s Daikin Park.