MLB fans who tuned into the World Baseball Classic were expecting big-time performances from superstars Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge and Juan Soto.
They came away learning more about Venezuela’s title-winning squad and one espresso-loving Italy slugger.
Ahead of the 2026 MLB season, some players have already boosted their profile by thriving on the worldwide stage. Here are six standouts whose stock is rising following their performances in the World Baseball Classic.
6. 2B Brice Turang, USA/Milwaukee Brewers
The 2024 National League Platinum Glove Award winner was primarily on the U.S. roster for his sensational defense at second base, but Turang provided much more than that for a star-studded team whose top sluggers failed to consistently produce at the plate.
Turang ended up being one of the most consistent hitters of the group, tying for the team lead in hits (eight), leading the team in doubles (four) and finishing second in batting average (.364) and third in OPS (.936). He also had the only hit USA mustered against Venezuela starter Eduardo Rodriguez in the final.
5. 1B Vinnie Pasquantino, Italy/Kansas City Royals
(Photo by Rob Tringali/WBCI/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
Sometimes, numbers don’t paint the full picture of a player’s impact.
Beyond Venezuela capturing its first ever WBC title, the story of the tournament was Italy. And you can’t tell that story without Pasquantino, who was the heart and soul of the most surprising team in the competition. Italy’s group full of unrelenting prospects and novice big-leaguers raved about the leadership of Pasquantino, who played a vital role in recruiting the team over the past year.
The team captain only had four hits in the WBC, but he walked seven times, played spectacular defense, finished with a .970 OPS and became the first player in tournament history to hit three home runs in a game.
4. RP Daniel Palencia, Venezuela/Chicago Cubs
(Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images)
Palencia was almost unhittable in the first half of a breakout 2025 season while emerging as the Cubs’ primary ninth-inning option. He started the year in Triple-A and finished it as the team leader in saves, but injury and poor performance in the second half led to Brad Keller closing games by season’s end.
After an offseason of bullpen turnover, manager Craig Counsell expressed his confidence in Palencia by naming him the Cubs’ closer right when camp opened. And in the WBC, the flamethrowing 26-year-old right-hander spent the tournament backing up the Cubs’ belief.
Palencia faced 17 batters in the WBC, struck out nine of them, and didn’t allow a hit or a run in five appearances. The only two hitters to reach base against him came on a hit by pitch and a walk.
He shut the door on Japan in the quarterfinal, striking out Sosuke Genda and Kensuke Kondoh before getting Shohei Ohtani to pop out to end an 8-5 win. Two days later, he closed out Italy in the semifinal with another two strikeouts in a scoreless ninth. Then, pitching on back-to-back nights in the final against the U.S., Palencia struck out Kyle Schwarber, induced a pop out from Gunnar Henderson, then overpowered Roman Anthony on a 99.7 mph fastball to win the tournament.
3. OF Wilyer Abreu, Venezuela/Boston Red Sox
(Photo by Mary DeCicco/WBCI/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
If you’re a Red Sox outfielder, chances are you boosted your stock in this tournament.
Jarren Duran hit three home runs in four games for Mexico. Roman Anthony hit two home runs for Team USA, including what ended up being the deciding blasts against Mexico and the Dominican Republic. Masataka Yoshida also swatted two homers and was the best Japanese hitter not named Shohei Ohtani.
But two of the biggest swings of the tournament belonged to Abreu, who came up clutch in Venezuela’s two biggest upset wins of the WBC. The 26-year-old put Venezuela ahead for good over Japan in the quarterfinal with a go-ahead three-run homer in the sixth and padded Venezuela’s lead over USA in the final with a solo shot off Nolan McLean in the fifth.
2. 3B Junior Caminero, Dominican Republic/Tampa Bay Rays
(Photo by Kelly Gavin/WBCI/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
Last year alone, Caminero won the Dominican Winter League championship for Leones del Escogido with an epic home run, started at third base in the MLB All-Star Game, finished second in the Home Run Derby and ended the 2025 season with 45 home runs, a number that trailed only Eugenio Suárez for the most among all MLB third basemen. So it’s not like the World Baseball Classic put Caminero on the map.
But even late last year, the 22-year-old wasn’t sure if he’d make the Dominican Republic’s superstar roster. If he hadn’t, he still planned to show up and cheer his team on as a fan. As it turned out, he would do much more than that.
Alongside a group of players he grew up idolizing, as one of the most dangerous hitters in one of the greatest lineups ever assembled, Caminero shined. Caminero led the star-studded group with three home runs in the tournament and scored the Dominican Republic’s lone run in the semifinals with a solo homer off reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes. On a Tampa Bay roster without much offensive firepower, Caminero looks like a linchpin. And if the Rays get back to playing postseason baseball, they know Caminero will be able to handle the spotlight.
1. 3B Maikel Garcia, Venezuela/Kansas City Royals
(Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
If Garcia was still flying under the radar following his breakout season last year in Kansas City, he shouldn’t be anymore.
In a tournament that featured multiple MVPs and Cy Young Award winners, it was the 26-year-old Royals third baseman who took home WBC MVP honors after hitting .385 and leading all players in the competition with 10 hits.
Garcia, who was an All-Star and Gold Glove Award winner for the first time last season with the Royals, knocked in runs in all three of Venezuela’s elimination games. He hit a two-run homer against Japan that helped spark a comeback in the quarterfinals, a go-ahead RBI single against Italy in the semifinals and a sac fly that started the scoring in the finals against the United States.
“I didn’t believe in my talent until 2025,” Garcia said after being named tournament MVP. “What I achieved last year made me understand the player that I am.”
