Twins legend Johan Santana joins Venezuela's coaching staff for 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC)
2-time Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana has been named pitching coach on Team Venezuela for the 2026 #WorldBaseballClassic! pic.twitter.com/DY2lryTwuY
— MLB (@MLB) August 11, 2025
Santana won two Cy Young Awards with Minnesota and made four All-Star teams, three as a Twin, in his career. In eight years with Minnesota, Santana accrued 35.8 bWAR with a 3.22 ERA and 9.5 SO/9 before Minnesota traded him to the New York Mets in 2008 in exchange for center fielder Carlos Gomez and pitchers Phil Humber, Kevin Mulvey and Deolis Guerra. Santana had a 3.18 ERA with the Mets across parts of four seasons before he retired after the 2012 season due to injuries.
Santana, now 46 years old, joins manager Omar Lopez on Venezuela's 2026 WBC coaching staff. Venezuela's 2026 roster has yet to be announced, but the team has the potential to be among the best in the tournament. Team Venezuela's roster during the 2023 WBC included Twins ace Pablo López, outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr., infielder Luis Arraez, third baseman Eugenio Suárez, catcher/first baseman Salvador Perez and second baseman/left fielder Jose Altuve, all of whom have a good chance to crack the 2026 roster.
The United States eliminated Venezuela from the 2023 tournament with an exciting 9-7 win in the quarterfinals. Before that, Venezuela went 4-0 in pool play against the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Israel and Nicaragua.
As it did in 2023, the 2026 WBC will include four pools of five teams. The top two teams in each pool will advance to the quarterfinals in Miami and Houston on March 13 and 14. Venezuela is in Pool D, which will take place March 6-11 in Miami. Pool D includes the Dominican Republic, the Netherlands, Israel and Nicaragua.
Here are your finalized pools and schedule for the 2026 #WorldBaseballClassic.
— World Baseball Classic (@WBCBaseball) April 9, 2025
The Championship Game will be played March 17, 2026 at loanDepot Park in Miami.
Full ticketing information for the 2026 tournament is available at https://t.co/h4Fi0dLx07. pic.twitter.com/t8q8Nopf4k
Minnesota Twins set to play Game 2 of series against New York Yankees
Game 2 of the Minnesota Twins' three-game series against the New York Yankees is scheduled to start at 6:05 p.m. CT on Tuesday at Yankee Stadium. Minnesota's scheduled starting pitcher has yet to be announced, and lefty Carlos Rodón is slated to make the start on the mound for New York.