Overview
- Brazil began pool play against Team USA at Daikin Park on Friday night, with Dante Bichette Jr. taking the field sporting bright green hair dyed two weeks earlier by stylist friend Shea Scarpa.
- This is Brazil’s second World Baseball Classic appearance and first since 2013, earned after a 3-1 run in the 2025 qualifiers.
- The roster features no active MLB players but includes notable major-league ties, with Lucas Ramirez and Joseph Contreras among the players and Yan Gomes serving on the coaching staff.
- Players and coaches are embracing underdog status and view the tournament as a showcase to boost the sport’s footprint in Brazil, building on MLB’s 2025 development academy launch in São Paulo.
- Dante Bichette Jr., eligible through his Brazilian mother, said relatives back home are ecstatic, and he acknowledged disappointment at not sharing the WBC stage with his brother.