Ketel Marte has crushed a home run off Arizona Diamondbacks teammate Eduardo Rodriguez, Nolan Arenado has made one defensive highlight after another and Michael Soroka will pitch against Team USA in a quarterfinal matchup at the World Baseball Classic on Friday.
WBC pool play wrapped up on Wednesday with eight teams left standing. The Diamondbacks’ players and prospects eliminated from the WBC have started heading back to spring training, while those alive in the tournament will take the field in win-or-go-home games starting this weekend.
Here is a list of Diamondbacks still competing in the WBC:
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– Dominican Republic: SS Geraldo Perdomo, 2B Ketel Marte, 1B Carlos Santana
– Venezuela: LHP Eduardo Rodriguez
– Canada: RHP Michael Soroka, RHP Indigo Diaz
– Puerto Rico: 3B Nolan Arenado
Amazingly, none of these four teams play each other in the quarterfinals:
– Dominican Republic vs. Korea, Friday at 3:30 p.m. MST (FS2)
– Canada vs. United States, Friday 5 p.m. (FOX)
– Puerto Rico vs. Italy, Saturday at 12 p.m. (FS1)
– Venezuela vs. Japan, Saturday at 6 p.m. (FOX)
Marte has been Arizona’s hitting standout from the group of players remaining after a big performance against Venezuela on Wednesday. He roped a single and a home run off Rodriguez in a 7-5, pool-clinching win for the D.R.
Marte is 3-for-12 with six runs, three RBIs and four walks added as the No. 2 hitter in a lineup between Fernando Tatis Jr. and Juan Soto.
Perdomo is only 1-for-8 and missed a game with an illness, but he unsurprisingly has drawn four walks and scored four runs. Santana is 1-for-5, coming off the bench for a loaded D.R. roster.
Rodriguez will not start another game unless Venezuela upsets Japan and goes on a deep run, as he’d be on four days rest going into the semifinals or five days rest before the title game. Rodriguez allowed three runs in 2.2 innings with five strikeouts on Wednesday.
Soroka was solid in his pool play start, with three innings and one earned run against Colombia. He will take on a significantly scarier lineup from the U.S. on Friday, led by Aaron Judge, Bobby Witt Jr. and Kyle Schwarber.
“It’ll be a little more of a chess match,” Soroka told reporters on Thursday. “I’m looking forward to it. I feel really good.”
The U.S. nearly failed to advance after an embarrassing loss to Italy on Tuesday — with manager Mark DeRosa’s “our ticket’s punched” comments on MLB Network receiving more scrutiny than the game itself. But Italy defeated and eliminated Alek Thomas’ Team Mexico to push the U.S. through as the pool runner-up.
Finally, Arenado has not been an impactful bat thus far at 3-for-14, but he has been dazzling at third base with plays like this:
LA DEFENSA DE NOLAN ARENADO. ? Tremendo atrapadón del tercera base en el Panamá vs Puerto Rico. #WBCenFOX pic.twitter.com/RluvfL7ulI
— FOX Deportes (@FOXDeportes) March 8, 2026
And this:
Por algo tiene 10 Guantes de Oro en su carrera. ¡NOLAN ARENADO! pic.twitter.com/Q4GHnoRwkS
— MLB Español (@mlbespanol) March 10, 2026
Wins for the Dominican Republic and United States would set up a titanic matchup in the semifinals.
Japan, the defending champions, hosted its pool in Tokyo, so its bout with Venezuela will be the most visible game to date for the North American audience.
Italy has been the breakout squad of the tournament at 4-0 after crushing Mexico 9-1. It faces a Puerto Rican team trying to hold it together without local stars Francisco Lindor, Carlos Correa or Javier Baez due to insurance issues.
Thomas headlines the group of players returning to or already back at D-backs camp, along with Druw Jones (Netherlands), Kristian Robinson (Great Britain), Yu-Min Lin (Taiwan) and Jaitoine Kelly (Netherlands).
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