The World Baseball Classic rosters were officially released Thursday night, and three Orioles players — outfielder Cedric Mullins, pitcher Dean Kremer and outfielder Anthony Santander — are set to participate in the international event.
Mullins will represent the United States in the 20-country tournament, while Santander and Kremer will play for Venezuela and Israel, respectively.
The World Baseball Classic will begin March 8 and run through March 21, with the championship game at LoanDepot Park in Miami. The four host cities are Miami, Phoenix, Taichung, Taiwan and Tokyo.
All three players were expected to be listed on their respective rosters after announcing their involvement over the past six months. However, two other Orioles thought to be included were not listed during the release on MLB Network.
Infielder Ramón Urías and reliever Dillon Tate were both linked to Team Mexico and Team USA, respectively, but were not included on the teams’ rosters Thursday. Urías, a Gold Glove winner at third base last season, had said during the Orioles’ Birdland Caravan last week that he was looking forward to playing alongside his brother, Milwaukee Brewers infielder Luis Urías, at the WBC.
Left-handed pitcher Nick Vespi was also going to play for Team Italy before undergoing hernia surgery in January.
“It would’ve been a really cool experience, but at the end of the day, I’m mostly focused on opening day and winning with the Orioles,” Vespi said during the caravan last week.
A few other players in the Orioles’ organization also made the cut: left-handed pitcher Darwinzon Hernandez (Venezuela) and right-handed pitchers Daniel Federman (Israel) and Ryan Long (Great Britain). Hernandez, who the Orioles acquired from the Boston Red Sox in January, was designated for assignment after Baltimore traded for Oakland Athletics pitcher Cole Irvin. He cleared waivers and will be a nonroster invitee to spring training. Federman, 24, split his 2022 season between Low-A Delmarva and High-A Aberdeen, while Long, 23, spent last year with Delmarva.
Mullins, an All-Star in 2021 and a Gold Glove finalist in 2022, was the first Oriole to announce he was on a WBC roster in August. While wearing a microphone during the Little League Classic, Mullins said it was a no-brainer to accept the invitation to be on Team USA.
“It was an automatic yes,” Mullins said. “A once-in-a-lifetime experience in my opinion and something I wanted to jump on.”
Mullins, 28, will continue the tradition of Baltimore center fielders to play for Team USA at the WBC, as Adam Jones played on the 2013 team that lost in the second round and the 2017 club that won the championship. Mullins is hoping to have the type of impact Jones had in 2017 when the former Orioles star robbed then-teammate Manny Machado, playing for Team Dominican Republic, of a home run.
Mullins is on a roster that includes some of the biggest stars in Major League Baseball, including Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout, Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Trea Turner and Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts. Mark DeRosa, a former major leaguer and current MLB Network analyst, will manage Team USA.
“It’s exciting, I’m going to be around a bunch of well-renowned talent,” Mullins said at the caravan. “These guys have been doing it for a long time, and it’s just an honor to be a part of it.”
Former Orioles players set to play in the classic include: Machado (Dominican Republic), right-handed pitcher Jorge López (Puerto Rico), second baseman Jonathan Schoop (Netherlands), left-handed pitcher Nestor Cortes (USA), designated hitter Nelson Cruz (Dominican Republic), right-handed pitcher Pedro Strop (Netherlands), outfielder Hyun Soo Kim (Korea), right-handed pitcher Matt Harvey (Italy), infielder Danny Valencia (Israel), right-handed pitcher César Valdez (Dominican Republic), catcher Robinson Chirinos (Venezuela), right-handed pitcher Vance Worley (Great Britain), left-handed pitcher Adam Loewen (Canada), infielder Jonathan Araúz (Panama) and left-handed pitcher Richard Bleier (Israel). Adam Kolarek, a Catonsville native and University of Maryland product, is on Team Israel.
Santander, a Venezuela native, will play for his home country alongside Detroit Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera, Houston Astros second baseman José Altuve and Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. The 28-year-old said in October that it “means a lot” to have the opportunity to represent Venezuela on the world stage. Santander had the best full season of his career in 2022 with 33 home runs and 89 RBIs.
Kremer, coming off a standout 2022 season, hopes to continue his strong 2022 campaign (3.23 ERA in 125 1/3 innings) with Team Israel next month. The 27-year-old right-hander has dual Israeli-American citizenship. He is the only Oriole set to play in the tournament who participated in the event six years ago — helping Team Israel qualify for the WBC at 20 years old and then pitching in the main tournament at 21. Other players on Team Israel include San Francisco Giants outfielder Joc Pederson and Colorado Rockies right-handed pitcher Jake Bird.
Kremer could pitch against Santander early in the tournament, as Venezuela and Israel are both in Pool D. The countries are scheduled to face off on March 15 in Miami.
The players participating in the WBC are scheduled to report to spring training a couple days early and leave shortly before the pool play begins between March 8-11. Mullins said during the caravan that ramping up for the WBC rather than just focusing on opening day on March 30 will be an “adjustment” and that he reached out to Jones for advice.
“He said roughly 80 [percent] would be good to go in, kind of get your feet wet,” Mullins said when recalling Jones’ advice. “You’re still trying to prepare for a season, but you definitely want to be ready for the WBC as well.”
Team USA’s first game in Pool C is March 11 against Great Britain at 10 p.m in Phoenix. The other teams in Pool C are Canada, Colombia and Mexico.
Baltimore Sun reporter Nathan Ruiz contributed to this article.
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