After failing to qualify for the World Baseball Classic in 2017 and 2023, Brazil will be in the WBC for 2026. Brazil’s roster doesn’t have much in the way of depth. However, there are some familiar names, including one who could be a familiar name very soon.
Pitchers
- RHP Pierto Rienzo
- RHP Gabriel Barbosa
- RHP Joseph Contreras
- RHP Tiago Da Silva
- RHP Murilo Gouvea
- LHP Hugo Kanabushi
- RHP Pedro Da Costa Lemos
- RHP Tomas Lopez
- RHP Daniel Missaki (Rangers)
- LHP Oscar Nakaoshi
- RHP Eric Pardinho (Blue Jays)
- LHP Enzo Sawayama
- RHP Bo Takahashi
- RHP Thyago Vieira
- LHP Hector Villarroel
Very few MLB talent is on Team Brazil. The concentration of those players is on the pitching staff.
Bo Takahashi, a veteran of Team Brazil, is back for 2026. Takahashi was a longtime farmhand for the Diamondbacks and was called up in 2019 by Arizona. However, he never pitched in an MLB game.
Hard-throwing right-hander Thyago Vieira last pitched in the Majors in 2024 with Arizona. The 33-year-old spent parts of five seasons as a reliever.
Moving on to the other pro talents, Daniel Missaki will pitch for Brazil. Missaki, as we noted in December, was one of the top swing-and-miss pitchers in the Texas League last season.
Missaki is one of several Japanese-born players in Brazil, not surprising given the sheer number of people with Japanese ancestry who live in the South American country.
Murilo Gouvea, who last pitched in affiliated baseball back in 2015, was a longtime farmhand for the Houston Astros.
Perhaps the most interesting name among the pitchers — and maybe, this entire team — is 2026 MLB Draft prospect Joseph Contreras. Contreras, the son of former White Sox & Yankee Jose Contreras, is 17 years old and is committed to the University of Vanderbilt.
The Georgia native boasted a fastball that capped out at 98 MPH on the high school circuit.
He wouldn’t be the youngest player to ever play, though, for Team Brazil. Eric Pardinho, the 25-year-old who is back for Brazil in 2026, pitched for the team’s WBC qualifier in 2016 as a 15-year-old in Brooklyn, New York.
Pardinho, a reliever in the Toronto system, struck out 31 over 24.2 IP across three levels last season.
Catchers
- C Gabriel Gomes
- C Enzo Hayashida
- C Matheus Silva
- C Gabriel Carmo
Affiliated pro baseball talent among the position players for Brazil is far and few. However, there are some players from Brazil who either have or are with an MLB team
Gabriel Gomes spent four seasons in the Reds system, culminating in the ACL. He hit .216 with the ACL Reds in 2025 before Cincinnati released him this past summer.
Matheus Silva spent four years in the DSL for the Athletics. Across those four seasons, Silva slashed .168/.299/.170 over 114 career games.
Infielders
- CI Dante Bichette Jr.
- INF Vitor Ito
- INF Felipe Koragi
- INF Felipe Mizukosi
- INF Tiago Nishiyama
- MI Leonardo Reginatto
- INF Lucas Rojo
Heading into 2026, Brazil appeared to be walking into the WBC with one heavyweight hitter: Bo Bichette.
Bichette stated in April 2025 that he intended to play for Brazil (his mother is Brazilian) in the 2026 World Baseball Classic. It wouldn’t have been the first time, as Bichette played for Brazil in the 2026 WBC qualifier.
However, the new Met indicated in January that he wouldn’t play in the World Baseball Classic, after all.
His older brother, Dante Bichette Jr., will play for Brazil. Bichette Jr., a former first-round pick by the Yankees in 2011, played for the country in 2016 alongside his younger brother.
The other notable among the infield group is 35-year-old Leonardo Reginatto. Reginatto last played in affiliated baseball in 2018 with Triple-A Rochester.
Outfielders
- OF Osvaldo Carvalho
- OF Gabriel Maciel
- OF Victor Mascai
- OF Lucas Ramirez (Angels)
Former Diamondbacks farmhand Gabriel Maciel is back for Brazil. Arizona traded Maciel, as well as two others (Ernie De La Trinidad and Jhoan Duran), to the Twins for Eduardo Escobar in 2018. He has not played in affiliated baseball since 2022.
Lucas Ramirez is an Angels farmhand and the son of Manny Ramirez. A 17th-round pick from the 2024 MLB Draft, the 20-year-old slashed .266/.356/.417 with three home runs and 17 extra-base hits over 60 games.
Victor Mascai spent four years in the Astros organization.
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