WBC Team Preview: Colombia

A pair of 2024 Mets with 27 years of MLB experience between them will try to pitch Team Colombia out of the group stage for the first time in World Baseball Classic history.

Notable Players

Jose Quintana is the team captain and has been announced as the starter for Colombia’s first game on Friday vs. Puerto Rico in what is sure to be a fired up crowd in San Juan. With 38 postseason innings under his belt, Quintana can lean on his experience making pressure starts in hostile stadiums.

Quintana, 37, signed by the Rockies this offseason, is 113-110 with a career 3.76 ERA, pitching for eight teams in his 14-year career. He went 13-16 with a 3.70 ERA in his two years with the Mets.

He will be followed in the rotation by Julio Teheran, the former Braves ace who last pitched in the majors with the Mets (if you blinked, you missed it) when he made one start that lasted 2 2/3 innings in 2024. Teheran, 35, went 81-82 with a 3.85 ERA over 13 MLB seasons. He pitched to a 6.95 ERA in an independent league in Mexico last year.

The offense includes third baseman Gio Urshela (in Twins camp as a non-roster invitee, posted a .613 OPS in 59 games for the Athletics last year), Jorge Alfaro (in Royals camp, posted a .564 OPS in 14 games with the Nationals last year) and free agent Donovan Solano, who hit three homers in 69 games for the Mariners last year.

A fun player to watch will be Mariners middle infield prospect Michael Arroyo, a 21-year-old who hit 17 homers combined at Double-A and High-A last season while slashing .262/.401/.433. He is ranked the No. 67 prospect on MLB Pipeline. Seattle signed him for $1.375 million during the international signing period in 2022.

Notable Coach

The manager is Jose Mosquera, who played two years in the Pirates’ minor league system (2005-2006) before becoming a Pirate scout, minor league coach and manager. He was a bench coach for Team Colombia in 2023.

WBC History

Colombia is 2-5 overall in its previous two WBC appearances. It nearly pulled off two upsets in 2017, but fell in extra innings to both the eventual champion United States and the Dominican Republic. In 2023, it did upset Mexico.

Pool

Colombia’s opener vs. Puerto Rico on Friday is at 6 p.m. ET. The other teams in Pool A are Canada, Cuba and Panama. It is arguably the most competitive pool of the four. The five teams all fall between No. 8 (Canada) and No. 14 (Panama) in MMO’s Robert Colonna’s WBC rankings. He has Colombia at No. 13.

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