The New York Mets sent a franchise-record 18 players to the 2026 World Baseball Classic, the most in franchise history, scattered across 11 countries and 3 of the 4 pools. Pool play is done. The quarterfinals are set. And now it’s time to sort out who actually showed up for the orange and blue, who got buried on a deep roster, and who had the kind of week that will follow them into Flushing come Opening Day.

Before the rankings, there’s a list that needs to go first.

New York Mets Who Didn’t Qualify for the Rankings

These are the Mets who were rostered, suited up, and presumably contributed in some capacity, but didn’t generate any documented surface-level stats in pool play coverage. That’s not a knock on most of them. Being a bench bat on a loaded Dominican Republic squad or a depth arm on Israel’s roster is a real thing. Not every player on a 28-man WBC roster is going to show up in a box score.

Josh Blum (Israel, Pool D), Jordan Geber (Israel, Pool D), Benjamin Simon (Israel, Pool D), and Robert Stock (Israel, Pool D) all represented Team Israel in Miami. Israel finished 2-2 and was eliminated when the Dominican Republic rolled them 10-1, but the four Mets on that roster either didn’t get plate appearances, didn’t pitch in tracked innings, or both. Israel had actual MLB hitters like Spencer Horwitz headlining the lineup, so roster crunch was very real for the organizational depth guys.

Carlos Guzman (Venezuela, Pool D) was a cool story heading in, coming off a strong Venezuelan Winter League run, but Venezuela’s pitching staff was loaded enough that documented appearances for a prospect-level arm just didn’t surface.

Daviel Hurtado (Cuba, Pool A) made his WBC debut in San Juan with a Cuban team that finished 2-2. No individual stats surfaced in coverage.

Jamdrick Cornelia (Netherlands, Pool D) made history just by being there as a Mets lefty prospect on the WBC stage in Miami, but the Netherlands finished 1-3 and there’s nothing in the box scores to point to.

Joe Jacques (Italy, DPP) was part of the Designated Pitcher Pool for Team Italy, meaning he wasn’t on the active roster for pool play and could only be activated after the first round. He technically didn’t participate in pool play at all.

Now, the actual rankings. 9 Mets had documented pool play action. Here they are, worst to first.

9. Jose Ramos, OF — Team Panama (Pool A)

Ramos is on a minor league deal with the Mets after coming over from the Dodgers system. He was never going to carry Panama’s offense. But 1-for-4 with an RBI single and a run scored in a 4-3 loss to Colombia is at least something. He struck out twice, and Panama went 1-3 in pool play and got bounced.

8. Jared Young, OF/1B — Team Canada (Pool A)

Canada went 3-1 and made the quarterfinals for the first time in franchise history, which is genuinely exciting. Young was part of that. He didn’t create individual headlines, and game-by-game coverage buried him behind bigger names in that Canadian lineup like Josh Naylor, Abraham Toro, and Tyler O’Neill. But he was present on a team that actually won games, and there’s something to be said for that.

7. Daniel Duarte, RHP — Team Mexico (Pool B)

Duarte signed with the Mets on a minor league deal after spending last year in the Mexican Pacific Winter League and most recently pitching for the Twins in 2024. Mexico went 2-2 and was eliminated after Italy crushed them 9-1 in the pool finale. Inside that chaos, Duarte carved out a scoreless inning against Team USA, which is not nothing. Paul Skenes was on that mound for the Americans in the Mexico game. Keeping the run line clean against a squad loaded with All-Stars is a legitimate accomplishment, even in a single inning.

6. Alex Carrillo, RHP — Team Mexico (Pool B)

Carrillo had a bit of a mixed bag. He also threw a scoreless inning for Mexico against Team USA, getting through a lineup that included Aaron Judge and Bryce Harper without giving up a run. That’s a good day on paper. But he also allowed a tying home run to Great Britain in the 6th inning of a separate game, a moment that didn’t help Mexico’s margin situation in what became a complicated pool play tiebreaker picture.

Carrillo got a September call-up for the Mets in 2025 and pitched in 3 games. The WBC reps are useful. The homer to Great Britain keeps him out of the top half.

5. Mark Vientos, 3B — Team Nicaragua (Pool D)

Mark Vientos was the only active MLB position player on Nicaragua’s entire roster, and that context has to frame everything. He didn’t post big counting stats over 4 games, but he chose to represent his mother’s home country over Puerto Rico, which would have given him a much more competitive stage. That’s character.

He walked to load the bases against Cristopher Sanchez in the first inning of their opener against the DR, giving Nicaragua a real bases-loaded, nobody-out moment with a chance to put runs on the board early. Sanchez then struck out the side with a 4-strikeout inning, and that moment kind of summed up the entire Nicaragua experience. Vientos also flashed his glove with a nifty snag at third that robbed Fernando Tatis Jr. of a hit, and singled against Venezuela in a 4-0 loss. Nicaragua went 0-4 and got relegated, but Vientos showed up and competed every game.

He has some things to prove when the Mets’ lineup shakes out this spring. The WBC didn’t answer those questions, but it didn’t hurt him either.

4. Nolan McLean, RHP — Team USA (Pool B)

Nolan McLean‘s WBC start against Italy on Tuesday night was two very different pitchers in the span of 3 innings. The first inning was a preview of what he can become: 3 batters up, 3 strikeouts, 11 pitches, sitting down the Italian lineup like it was a bullpen session. It was the kind of first inning that makes you lean forward.

Then the second inning happened. Kyle Teel ambushed a first-pitch fastball into the Crawford Boxes, Jac Caglianone got plunked, and Sam Antonacci drove a belt-high heater over the right-center wall for a 2-run shot. Two hits, two homers, 3 runs, and suddenly McLean was in a 3-0 hole before Team USA’s offense even got going. He settled down in the third and worked around a pair of walks, but the damage was done. Final line: 3 IP, 3 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 4 K. Team USA lost 8-6, and McLean took the loss.

The secondary stuff was sharp, the curveball was spinning at elite RPM levels, and the sweeper flashed. But the fastball command in the 2nd inning is something he’ll need to clean up. He’s still the runaway NL Rookie of the Year favorite and locked into the Mets rotation. One bad inning at the WBC isn’t a concern. It’s a data point.

3. Huascar Brazobán, RHP — Dominican Republic (Pool D)

Huascar Brazobán was one of the stories of the spring before the WBC even started. The 36-year-old hadn’t allowed an earned run in his spring training appearances, and he carried that into Miami. He pitched 1.2 scoreless innings in relief of Cristopher Sanchez in the DR’s opening 12-3 rout of Nicaragua, then came back out later in pool play and struck out 3 batters in the Dominican Republic’s 7-5 win over Venezuela to close out the pool.

Zero earned runs. Against the best lineup in the tournament, in the most pressure-packed pool in the field. The DR went 4-0, and Brazobán was a clean piece of that.

He’s been a reliever his whole career. He knew his role, executed it, and kept the ball on the ground when it mattered. For a Mets bullpen that needs dependable arms behind their starting rotation, this was exactly the kind of performance Carlos Mendoza wanted to see coming out of camp.

2. Clay Holmes, RHP — Team USA (Pool B)

Carlos Mendoza watched from home and called it “electric.” That word gets thrown around too easily in baseball, but for Clay Holmes against Great Britain on Saturday night, it actually fits.

Holmes took over from Tarik Skubal to start the 4th inning with Team USA trailing 1-0, and he proceeded to be unhittable for 3 innings. 1 hit allowed, 0 walks, 6 strikeouts, including 5 consecutive punchouts across the 4th and 5th innings. He was at 74% strike rate on 66 pitches. The sinker had sink, the sweeper had late snap, and the breaking ball command was sharp from the first pitch. He got Jazz Chisholm Jr., his former teammate in New York, looking at a sweeper for the final out of the 6th. Team USA won 9-1 and advanced to 2-0 in pool play.

This was 1 appearance in pool play, so the sample is limited, but the stuff and the execution are exactly what you want to see from the man penciled into the middle of the Mets rotation. He showed up to spring training already built up to 3 innings when most starters were still at 1, prioritizing this WBC appearance, and it paid off. He’s ready. The regular season opener on March 26 cannot get here fast enough.

1. Juan Soto, OF — Dominican Republic (Pool D)

There was no other option for No. 1.

Juan Soto did Juan Soto things for 4 games in Miami, in front of a wild Dominican Republic crowd that never stopped drumming. He homered in at least 3 of the 4 pool play games. He went 2-for-4 with a walk and a run scored in the opener against Nicaragua. He went yard against Venezuela in the 1st inning with a 2-run shot that set the tone early in the pool finale.

Against the Netherlands, he watched a 9-run lead develop and, when manager Albert Pujols tried to pull him, pushed back with “I wanted to help the guys in the bullpen, let me hit,” then ended the game himself with a 2-run blast into right-center in the 7th inning. That ended the game via the 10-run mercy rule.

Yes, he went hitless against Israel. That’s the only blemish in a 4-game sample where the Dominican Republic outscored their opponents 41-10 and went undefeated. Soto was the best player in Pool D, which was the most talented pool in the tournament.

The Dominican Republic plays Korea in the quarterfinals. If Soto keeps hitting like this, the Mets are going to have to wait a little longer to get their franchise player back, and that’s a problem worth celebrating.

Nine Mets got real work done at this WBC. Holmes and Soto look like they’re already in midseason form. McLean got a wake-up call that will only make him sharper. Brazobán was quietly excellent. The rest of the roster either held their own or filled roles on teams that advanced. Opening Day is March 26. The WBC sent the best possible preview.