Most Minnesota fans were likely rooting for Byron Buxton and Team USA in Tuesday night’s World Baseball Classic championship game against Venezuela. With a left-hander on the mound for Venezuela, USA’s manager Mark DeRosa started Buxton in center field over Chicago Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong.
It was not a great WBC for Buxton, as he went hitless the entire tournament in seven at-bats. Striking out in four of these, he was really only effective as a defensive replacement late in games. This, combined with Crow-Armstrong’s two-home run game against Italy, led to Buxton spending quite a bit of time on the bench.
That said, the Twins star still got his opportunity in this championship game and finished 0-for-1 with a strikeout. Crow-Armstrong ended up pinch hitting once Venezuela went to the bullpen, and he also finished hitless. While many Twins fans would have liked to see Buxton win the WBC, there was some good news for another Twins player.
Pablo López, the Venezuelan starting pitcher for the Twins, was unable to participate in this tournament due to season-ending elbow surgery. That said, he did spend some time around the Venezuelan club and was able to watch his country win the WBC on Tuesday night. This was some much-needed good news for López amid what has been a difficult stretch for him.
Making just 14 starts last season, López dealt with injuries but was very productive when healthy. Pitching 75.2 innings, he posted a 2.74 ERA while striking out 73 hitters. Just two seasons removed from his lone All-Star campaign, a year in which he finished seventh in Cy Young Award voting, López is still one of the game’s most consistent pitchers when healthy. But unfortunately, that health has been a question mark and will hold him out for the entirety of the 2026 MLB season.
Lopez began his career with Miami in 2018, pitching five seasons for the Marlins before joining Minnesota in 2023. That ended up being his breakout campaign, as he made 32 starts pitching a career-high 194 innings. He also struck out a career-high 234 batters that season, holding opponents to just a .238 batting average.
Already facing an uphill battle in the American League Central division, where they are well behind the Cleveland Guardians, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, and potentially even Chicago White Sox after this past free agency period, Minnesota being without one of their most consistent players this season is going to be an issue.
But for the time being, Lopez can celebrate with his Venezuelan teammates, as this is a very special day for the country.