PR finalizes national baseball team roster for Copa América in Panama

Ezequiel Pagán, who plays in Double-A in the Los Angeles Dodgers system, is one of four outfielders on the Team Puerto Rico roster.

By THE STAR STAFF

The Puerto Rico Baseball Federation (FBPR by its initials in Spanish) announced over the weekend the 27 players who will make up the men’s national team that will participate in the first edition of the Baseball Copa América, Nov. 13-22 in Panama.

The event will feature 12 teams divided into two groups and will determine qualifying spots for the 2026 Central American & Caribbean Games and the 2027 Pan American Games.

Team Puerto Rico is coached by Juan “Igor” González. He will be joined on the coaching staff by Edgar Pérez as bench coach, Dennis Pérez at third base, Eddie González at first base, Richard Burgos as infield coach, Javier Vázquez in charge of the pitchers, and Carlos Berdiel as bullpen coach.

Team Puerto Rico is made up of 22 players who played this year in the Double-A Superior Baseball League, along with college and minor league players. The roster of 13 position players and 14 pitchers includes former major leaguers Yadiel Rivera and Jesmuel Valentín, both infielders. Also on the roster are outfielder Ezequiel Pagán and catchers Onix Vega and Samuel Hernández, who are active in the minor leagues.

Vega is a member of the New York Mets system in Triple-A, Hernández is a member of the St. Louis Cardinals in Double-A, and Pagán plays in the Los Angeles Dodgers system in Double-A .

Also of note are outfielder Edgardo Villegas and left-handed pitcher Jorhan Laboy, who have posted outstanding performances in World Cups and Pre-World Cups in the U-23 category.

Villegas, a student at the University of Tampa, was named Most Valuable Player and batting champion at the 2024 U-23 Baseball World Cup. Laboy, meanwhile, is a student at the University of Alabama and was the most outstanding pitcher at the 2025 U-23 Pre-World Cup.

The roster also includes Luis Leroy Cruz, winner of the 2025 Pitcher of the Year award in Puerto Rico’s Double-A Superior Baseball League with the Pescadores del Plata of Comerío. Also highlighted is Rubén Castro, who was the batting champion and Most Valuable Player of the Double-A League in the 2022 and 2024 seasons.

Puerto Rico, currently fourth in the rankings in the Americas, will be in Group B along with Panama, Colombia, Canada, Brazil and Argentina. Their opener will be on Nov. 13 against Argentina at Mariano Rivera Stadium in Panama.

The full roster for the national team:

PITCHERS: Luis Leroy Cruz, Héctor Hernández, Joshua Torres, Josué Serrano, Marvin Gorgas, Bryant Salgado, José Cruz Molina, Rubén Ramírez, Gabriel Rodríguez, Jerryell Rivera, Miguel Ausúa, Jorhan Laboy, Sidney Duprey and Joel Huertas.

CATCHERS: Onix Vega and Samuel Hernández.

OUTFIELDERS: Edgardo Villegas, Rubén Castro, Ezequiel Pagán and Jan Hernández.

INFIELDERS: Yadiel Rivera, Jesmuel Valentín, Alexis Pantoja, Emmanuel “Manny” García, Kenen Irizarry, Luis González and Melvin Ortiz.