The big announcement has come for Atlanta Braves right fielder Ronald Acuña Jr. According to Major League Baseball’s official X (Twitter) page, he will represent Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic.
Ronald Acuña Jr. is ready to show out in the #WorldBaseballClassic 😤
La Bestia will play for Team Venezuela! pic.twitter.com/EQvj8yDrDp
— MLB (@MLB) January 29, 2026
Acuña went down to Venezuela for winter ball this offseason, with speculation building that he would return to the WBC. Since the Braves greenlit that, it felt like it was only a matter of time before he made this move official.
HR de ‘La Bestia’ 🦍 Ronald Acuña Jr. para empatar el juego y levantar la tribuna. pic.twitter.com/unBRRal9tw
— Guairistas 🦈🌊 (@guairistas) December 26, 2025
During the Winter Meetings, Team Venezuela was holding out hope for him to participate like he did back in 2023.
“Ronald Acuña represents right now probably like the second or third icon in our country, and having him right now playing in Venezuela for our country, people are crazy out there watching him play. So, I’m hoping he’s with us at the WBC,” Team Venezuela manager Omar Lopez said during the Winter Meetings.
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The 2023 National League MVP is coming off his fifth All-Star season, one where he didn’t even see action until late May. Despite the delayed arrival due to recovering from his second ACL injury, he came out of the gate playing at a level where the fans couldn’t ignore it. He was voted a starting outfielder alongside Kyle Tucker and Pete Crow-Armstrong.
In 95 games played, he batted .290 with a .935 OPS, 21 home runs and 42 RBIs. Along with the All-Star season, he was named the National League’s Comeback Player of the Year. If he is to be healthy next season, he could be back in contention for the MVP. He has stiff competition, but he is someone more than capable of forcing himself into the discussion.
Acuña has been doing everything he can to show what he can do now that he’s healthy. He recently took batting practice left-handed and sent a ball to the moon. There was also a post of him fielding grounders in the infield. He won’t be doing either of these things in a live game any time soon, but for workouts, it’s good that he’s doing a diverse series of workouts.
The World Baseball Classic is set to start on March 5. Venezuela will be playing in Pool D at LoanDepot Park in Miami. Along with Venezuela, pool consists of Dominican Republic, Israel, Netherlands and Nicaragua. They’ll be the pool’s first game on March 6 when they face the Netherlands at noon EST.
Other Braves players for the World Baseball Classic await to be confirmed. Soon-to-be Hall of Fame inductee Andruw Jones will be the manager of The Netherlands.
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