World No. 8 Puerto Rico announced their 28-man roster for the WBSC Premier12 2024 presented by RAXUS, the biggest and most important international baseball competition of the year. Puerto Rico will go to Mexico with 14 pitchers and 14 position players.
"We are proud to present the team to represent Puerto Rico in the Premier12. These 28 players have been selected to compete at the highest level in this prestigious international tournament. It's a mix of young talent and experience," said Puerto Rico Baseball Federation President José Daniel Quiles.
Leading the list are seven players with Major League experience: Vimael Machín, Yadiel Rivera, Dereck Rodríguez, Jonathan Bermúdez, Nicholas Padilla, and Duane Underwood.
The team also includes players from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), such as John Montes (University of South Florida), Edgardo Villegas (University of Miami), and Luis Rodríguez (Louisiana State University).
The roster has 10 minor league prospects: Carlos Cortes (New York Mets), Sabin Ceballos (San Francisco Giants), Javier Vaz (New York Yankees), Edrick Felix (Chicago White Sox), Randal Diaz (Washington Nationals), Jaime Ferrer (Minnesota Twins), Jorge Benitez (Los Angeles Dodgers), Raymond Burgos (San Francisco Giants), Osvaldo Berrios (St. Louis Cardinals), and Ezequiel Pagan (Chicago Cubs).
"I want to highlight the extraordinary work of our general manager, Edwin Rodríguez Rodríguez. His knowledge and experience have been key to building this team, bringing together the best talents who will carry our flag in the Premier12," Quiles stated.
CATCHERS: Juan Centeno, Luis Hernandez and Víctor Torres
PITCHERS: Jorge Benitez, Jonathan Bermudez, Osvaldo Berrios, Raymond Burgos, Ojani Chacon, Luis Leroy Cruz, Jason García, Agnel Miranda, Nicholas Padilla, Ruben Ramirez, Dereck Rodriguez, Luis Rodriguez, Andres Santiago, Duane Underwood
INFIELDERS: Sabin Ceballos, Randal Díaz, Edrick Felix, Vimael Machín, John Montes, Yadiel Rivera and Javier Vaz.
OUTFIELDERS: Carlos Cortés, Jaime Ferrer, Ezequiel Pagán, and Edgardo Villegas.
Five of these players participated in the World Baseball Classic 2023, including infielder Vimael Machin, and pitchers Jonathan Bermudez, Nicholas Padilla, Dereck Rodriguez and Duane Underwood, who retired the last three outs of a historic eight-inning perfect game against Israel.
World No. 8 Puerto Rico will be part of Group A, which will open the tournament on November 9 in Guadalajara and Tepic, Mexico, which includes world No. 2 Mexico, No. 4 Venezuela, No. 5 USA, No. 7 Netherlands and No. 10 Panama.
Group B includes world No.1 Japan, No. 2 Chinese Taipei, No. 6 Korea, No. 9 Cuba, No. 12 Dominican Republic and No. 15 Australia.
The top two teams from each group will advance to the Super Round, which will be played at the Tokyo Dome in Japan, where the medal games will also take place.
