MIAMI, FL — The legendary run that led to Maikel García winning the 2026 World Baseball Classic MVP for Venezuela is something that won’t be forgotten anytime soon.
The 26-year-old of La Sabana, Venezuela, cousins with Ronald Acuña Jr., put on a show in Miami, featuring clutch hitting in all three of Venezuela’s elimination games.
Rewind back to the WBC quarterfinal round against Japan, and García had a two-run home run to cut the Japan lead from three runs to one.
The two run blast is what gave Venezuela the belief that they could come back and win the game, which they did, as García also had a double and went 2-for-5 with two RBI against Japan.
In the semifinal round, Venezuela had to come back once again, trailing Italy 2-0. García found himself in the middle of that game as well, with the score tied 2-2 in the seventh, hitting a go-ahead single against Italy’s Michael Lorenzen.
Venezuela added one more run and held onto their 4-2 lead for the rest of the game.
In the WBC championship, García didn’t record a hit, but did bring in the first run of a 0-0 game with a sacrifice fly against Team USA’s starter Nolan McLean in the third. Until Wilyer Abreu added a home run two innings later, García’s sacrifice fly was all that Venezuela produced at the plate and gave the pitching staff something to work with.
Additionally, he played lockdown defense at third base and did not commit one error throughout the seven WBC games played by Venezuela. He will also be our prestigious LatinoMVP ballot for the 2025 AL LatinoMVP.
“I just was thinking about—we did it for our country, for our people, and people fighting every single night,”García told Latino Sports postgame after winning the WBC and being named the WBC MVP. “They showed the love for us and we did it for them.”
Moreover, García, with one home run and seven RBI, a batting average of .385, and an OPS of .970 in 26 at-bats, was the clear choice for WBC MVP, going 4-for-4 with an RBI in Venezuela’s biggest game of pool play, which was a 7-5 loss to the Dominican Republic.
This could definitely be a springboard for him going into his fifth MLB season with the Kansas City Royals.
“It’s gonna help me a lot,” said García. “I go into spring training tomorrow with confidence and to show who Maikael García is. I played good last year, and I wanna do it again this year.”
Historic Side
Venezuela’s 2026 World Baseball Classic championship win is the first gold medal for Venezuela since the 1959 Pan American Games, as the country also won eight Caribbean Series titles during that time, with their most recent title coming in 2024.
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