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Venezuela begins play in Pool D of the World Baseball Classic on March 6 against the Netherlands at noon ET at loanDepot park in Miami.
This will be Acuña’s second WBC appearance, as he joined Venezuela’s 2023 team before he embarked on a historic 41-homer, 73-stolen base season. After tearing his ACL in May 2024, Acuña returned last season with a .935 OPS, 21 home runs and nine stolen bases in 95 games.
Garcia is making his WBC debut after a breakout 2025 season that saw the Royals’ third baseman tally an .800 OPS, 16 home runs, 23 steals, 17 outs above average and 5.6 WAR (per FanGraphs). Garcia’s breakout sparked the Royals to sign him to a long-term extension this offseason.
