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Even the avid baseball fan would have acknowledged that were Venezuela to win the World Baseball Classic, Ronald Acuña Jr. would likely be the MVP.
Maikel Garcia made sure to keep it in the family.
He's almost better-known as the cousin of the great Atlanta Braves outfielder, but in leading Venezuela to its first World Baseball Classic championship, Garcia forged his own road to stardom.
Garcia led the WBC with 10 hits in seven games and they came in almost every form: A home run, a bunt single and a pair of doubles as he drove in seven runs and stole three bases – absolute kerosene in Venezuela’s No. 2 hole between Acuña and three-time batting champion Luis Arráez.
It’s a key coming-out party for Garcia, the Kansas City Royals third baseman who secured his long-term future by signing a five-year, $57.5 million contract extension with the Royals a year ago. He responded with a season worthy of some down-ballot MVP consideration, amassing 5.8 WAR while hitting 16 homers with an .800 OPS.
Still, higher-profile teammates were scattered all over this World Baseball Classic, with Bobby Witt Jr. making highlight-reel plays for Team USA and Vinnie Pasquantino and Jac Caglianone hitting tape-measure homers and doling out espressos and pecks on the cheek for Italy.
Yet as they return to their spring training site in Surprise, Arizona, and Acuña to his Atlanta Braves teammates up the road in Florida, it is Garcia who will have a gold medal in his luggage – and some MVP hardware, as well.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who won WBC MVP 2026? Maikel Garcia honored for Venezuela
Continue reading...
Maikel Garcia made sure to keep it in the family.
He's almost better-known as the cousin of the great Atlanta Braves outfielder, but in leading Venezuela to its first World Baseball Classic championship, Garcia forged his own road to stardom.
Garcia led the WBC with 10 hits in seven games and they came in almost every form: A home run, a bunt single and a pair of doubles as he drove in seven runs and stole three bases – absolute kerosene in Venezuela’s No. 2 hole between Acuña and three-time batting champion Luis Arráez.
It’s a key coming-out party for Garcia, the Kansas City Royals third baseman who secured his long-term future by signing a five-year, $57.5 million contract extension with the Royals a year ago. He responded with a season worthy of some down-ballot MVP consideration, amassing 5.8 WAR while hitting 16 homers with an .800 OPS.
Still, higher-profile teammates were scattered all over this World Baseball Classic, with Bobby Witt Jr. making highlight-reel plays for Team USA and Vinnie Pasquantino and Jac Caglianone hitting tape-measure homers and doling out espressos and pecks on the cheek for Italy.
Yet as they return to their spring training site in Surprise, Arizona, and Acuña to his Atlanta Braves teammates up the road in Florida, it is Garcia who will have a gold medal in his luggage – and some MVP hardware, as well.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who won WBC MVP 2026? Maikel Garcia honored for Venezuela
Continue reading...
