The Mets’ biggest star will be among those on display during next month’s World Baseball Classic.
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Juan Soto will represent the Dominican Republic in the tournament, the Mets announced Sunday — hardly a surprise given the All-Star outfielder’s visibility within his native country.
Soto also played for the Dominican Republic in the 2023 WBC.
Rosters for this year’s event will be finalized this week.
The Mets will send Nolan McLean and Clay Holmes to represent the United States in the WBC.
Mark Vientos has committed to representing Nicaragua.
Juan Soto hits a single during the Mets’ Sept. 16 game. Charles Wenzelberg
Francisco Lindor was set to serve as Puerto Rico’s captain for a second straight WBC, but the Mets shortstop won’t participate after the event’s insurer ruled last week he was ineligible for coverage following two elbow surgeries in the past three offseasons.
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Jose Altuve was also among those denied insurance coverage, removing him from the tournament.
Lindor and the Mets are all too familiar with the insurance ramifications after Edwin Díaz tore the patellar tendon in his right knee during an on-field celebration with Team Puerto Rico during the 2023 WBC.
The All-Star closer underwent season-ending surgery, but received his full salary through insurance.
Soto appeared in four games for the Dominican Republic in the 2023 WBC and finished 6-for-15 (.400) with two homers and a 1.500 OPS.
He will be joined on this year’s Dominican squad by Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Fernando Tatis Jr., Julio Rodríguez, Ketel Marte and Manny Machado, among others.
The Mets have been well represented in the tournament since its inception, most notably by David Wright, who earned the “Captain America” moniker for his WBC heroics.
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The team sent Lindor, Díaz, Pete Alonso, Eduardo Escobar and Brooks Raley to the 2023 WBC.
McLean will be a Mets focal point for Team USA in this year’s event after the rookie dominated in eight starts following his call-up late last season.
Holmes will also be a first-time participant.
“It’s an opportunity that you never really know if you’re going to get again,” Holmes said in December. “For me, just looking at the whole workload stuff and kind of where I was at in spring training last year, I feel like I was going to do the same workload this year, the same buildup and it really put me on track to do not much different this year, even with the WBC.”
