Dominic Hamel, Photo by Ed Delany of MMO

The official World Baseball Classic rosters have been announced, and there will be a heavy New York Mets presence. In total, there will be at least one member of the Mets organization in eight different countries. It would have been nine, but Kodai Senga has opted to sit out this year’s WBC.

The Mets participation goes well beyond the nine Major Leaguers they will have at the event, however. Those players are Pete Alonso (USA), Edwin Díaz (Puerto Rico), Eduardo Escobar (Venezuela), Francisco Lindor (Puerto Rico), Jeff McNeil (USA), Omar Narváez (Venezuela), Adam Ottavino (USA), José Quintana (Colombia), and Brooks Raley (USA). Beyond those nine players, the Mets are sending an additional six minor leaguers to the event:

The headliner of this group and the pitcher most likely to see significant time is Hamel. Recently, Hamel was named as MMN‘s 12th ranked Mets prospect mostly due to his high spin fastball and slider. He was also named the Mets 2022 Minor League Pitcher of the Year.

Hernández was acquired by the Mets this offseason in a trade with the Miami Marlins. The 27-year-old made 10 starts and 10 relief appearances for the Marlins last season, going 3-6 with a 6.35 ERA, 1.428 WHIP, 3.2 BB/9, and an 8.7 K/9. Notably, he is part of Venezuela’s designated pitching pool. As a result, there is a chance he may not make an appearance in the event.

Araúz, 24, was drafted in the minor league portion of the 2022 Rule 5 draft. The infielder has made brief Major League appearances in each of the past three seasons with the Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles. He has a reputation as a good defender who can play around the infield, but he has not hit much in his career. He is the only Mets minor league position player to participate in the WBC.

Mejía, 25, was just signed to a minor league deal by the Mets a few weeks ago. He spent the majority of the past season pitching professionally in Mexico after posting a 9.60 ERA through May for the Arizona Diamondbacks Triple-A affiliate. Mets fans may be familiar with him as he went straight from Single-A to the majors to pitch against the Mets in 2020.

Opp, 27, is an undrafted left-handed pitcher the Mets signed from the Evansville Otters of the Frontier League in December 2020. Opp was born in London, and he went to high school in England and California. After high school, he would pitch four years for West Point.

Last season, Opp made 20 combined appearances for Brooklyn and Binghamton. He was 1-3 with a 5.71 ERA, 1.832 WHIP, 6.2 BB/9, and a 6.9 K/9. Opp dealt with injuries during the season, and the organization would put him on the inactive list to permit him to pitch for Great Britain internationally.

Scotti, 24, was born in Rome and is going to get the privilege to play for Hall of Famer and Mets legend Mike Piazza. He was signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2016, but he was eventually released after not making it out of the Gulf Coast League. From there, he signed to play in the Italian Serie A1 baseball league.

After leading Fortitudo UnipolSai Bologna to two Italian Baseball Series Championship titles and one Champions Cup, the Mets signed him as a minor league free agent. Last season, he made two starts and three relief appearances for the FCL Mets. He was 1-0 with a 7.59 ERA, 1.875 WHIP, 10.1 BB/9, and an 11.0 K/9.

The World Baseball Classic will begin on March 8 with Panama playing against Chinese Tapei in Taiwan. With Araúz and Mejía on Panama’s roster, we may get to see the Mets minor leaguers have an impact on this tournament right from the first pitch.