Yariel Rodriguez is returning to the World Baseball Classic.
Francys Romero reports the Toronto Blue Jays have granted permission for the 28-year-old pitcher to represent his country.
Sources: Yariel Rodríguez will join Team Cuba for the 2026 World Baseball Classic after receiving approval from the Blue Jays.
— Francys Romero (@francysromeroFR) January 22, 2026
He is scheduled to report to the team on March 1 in Arizona.
Rodríguez will work exclusively out of the bullpen, not exceeding two innings per game.
Romero notes that Rodriguez will exclusively work as a reliever and is unable to exceed more than two innings per appearance.
A native of Camaguey, Rodriguez was outrighted off of the Blue Jays’ 40-man roster in early December. He will attend training camp as a non-roster invite.
Rodriguez joined the Jays ahead of the 2024 season on a five-year, $32 million deal. He had previously spent three seasons with the NPB’s Chunichi Dragons.
He appeared in 66 games in 2025 for the Jays. Rodriguez was 3-2 with a 3.08 earned run average and 1.151 WHIP over 73.0 innings pitched. He struck out 66 batters and walked 34.
After appearing on the Blue Jays’ Divisional Series and American League Championship Series rosters, Rodriguez was not on the team’s World Series roster.
