Blue Jays prospect Eric Pardinho earned a save for Team Brazil

The World Baseball Classic qualifiers are currently underway and a Toronto Blue Jays prospect is pitching in them.

Right-handed pitcher Eric Pardinho represents Team Brazil at the international level. On Monday, he picked up the save for Brazil in their 9-7 victory over Germany.

This led to Team Brazil going 2-1 in the group stage, falling 5-0 to Colombia (who won the group), defeating Germany 9-7, and defeating China 12-2. The last game, the second-place playoff is a “win and you’re in” game, and it’ll be played between Team Brazil and Team Germany to decide the last team who makes the 2026 World Baseball Classic.

A couple of weeks ago, Nicaragua and Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) qualified in Pool A as Team Spain and Team South Africa fell to third and fourth respectively. They join 16 other teams, such as Team Canada, Czechia, Italy, Netherlands, USA, Dominican Republic, and many others.

As for Pardinho, the 2024 season was a good year for the long-time Blue Jays prospect. Between Double-A and Triple-A, the one-time top 100 prospect according to MLB Pipeline had a 3.25 ERA and a 3.60 FIP in 55.1 innings pitched, with a 28.1 K% and an 11.9 BB%. There were two different stretches of a month or longer where he didn’t give up an earned run at both levels.

After entering free agency to begin the off-season, Pardinho re-signed with the Blue Jays and earned a non-roster invite to Spring Training, where he allowed five earned runs in an inning and two-thirds pitched before heading to the World Baseball Classic Qualifiers. 

The 2026 World Baseball Classic is the sixth in history and will be held from Mar. 5 until Mar. 17. Teams are separated into four pools. Pool A will be held in San Juan Puerto Rico and will feature Puerto Rico, Cuba, Canada, Panama, and Brazil or Germany. Pool B will be held in Houston, hosting the United States, Mexico, Italy, Great Britain, and Chinese Taipei.

Pool C will be held in Tokyo and features Japan, Australia, South Korea, Czechia, and Colombia. Lastly, Pool D will be held in Miami, featuring Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, the Netherlands, Israel, and Nicaragua.

Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, Oilersnation, and FlamesNation. They can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.