Netherlands, Curaçao roster explained for 2026 World Baseball Classic

Ehsan Kassim, USA TODAYFri, March 6, 2026 at 11:07 AM UTC

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One of the darkhorses of the World Baseball Classic always turns out to be the Netherlands.

The Dutch placed fourth in the 2013 and 2017 WBC tournaments and return a strong team that can be a contender again this season. Of course, the Netherlands is managed by someone who comes from a winning background.

Former Atlanta Braves star centerfielder, class of 2026 Hall of Famer and Curaçao native Andrew Jones is the first-time manager for the squad, which also features his son, Druw Jones. The upstart group features a roster of current and former MLB players in Ozzie Albies, Xander Bogaerts, Didi Gregorius, Ceddanne Rafaela and Kenley Jansen.

One of the biggest feeders of the Netherlands' pitching staff and roster this season will be the home island of Jones, in Curaçao. Baseball is a major event in the Caribbean island, which is a constituent country of the Netherlands.

Curaçao places a total of eight players from the island nation on the roster for the Netherlands, a team that Jones played for in the 2006 and 2013 World Baseball Classics.

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Here's what you about Curaçao:

1 / 0Team USA World Baseball Classic roster: Meet the squadPitcher: David BednarCuraçao population

The island national made news last November qualifying for the 2026 World Cup as the smallest country to ever do so, with a population of just 156,000.

A team led by current MLB players Jonathan Schoop and suspended Atlanta Braves infielder Jurickson Profar, led a Willemstad, Curaçao, team to the Little League World Series championship title in 2004.

Curaçao is located in the southern Caribbean just north of the Venezuela coast. It became an autonomous territory in 2010, in the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Curaçao players on Netherlands WBC roster

Here's a look at the eight players from Curaçao on the Netherlands' roster. All of them are pitchers:

Jamdrick Cornelia, LHP

Jaydenn Estanista, RHP

Wendell Floranus, RHP

Kenley Jansen, RHP

Kevin Kelly, RHP

Shairon Martis, RHP

J. C. Sulbaran, RHP

Dylan Wilson, RHP

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: World Baseball Classic 2026: Netherlands, Curaçao roster explained

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