Boston Red Sox closer Aroldis Chapman, the lefty flame-thrower nicknamed the “The Cuban Missile,” could be pitching for Great Britain in the 2026 World Baseball Classic. Chapman, who turns 38 this winter, is on Great Britain’s preliminary roster for the 2026 WBC, according to journalist Francys Romero, and is awaiting approval from the Red Sox to participate.
“You don’t know ’til you know,” Great Britain manager Bradley Marcelino said Tuesday at MLB’s Winter Meetings. “You hear good things. You hear the interest level. We’re very optimistic. But in this environment you don’t want to get too far ahead because there’s the (MLB) team, the eligibility part, all those things that you have to continue to work through.”
Chapman pitched in the 2009 WBC for his native Cuba, mere months before defecting during a tournament in the Netherlands, and has not appeared in a WBC since. Gary Anderson, performance director for the Great Britain team, explained that Chapman is eligible to play for Great Britain “through heritage through British overseas territories with his family.” Chapman’s paternal grandparents emigrated to Cuba from Jamaica, which was a British colony until 1962.