Minor League Baseball

Former Toronto Blue Jays Top Prospect Set to Represent Brazil in World Baseball Classic Qualifier

Eric Pardinho, who was previously ranked as a Top-100 prospect by both Baseball America and MLB Pipeline, will try to help Brazil advance to the 2026 WBC.
Brady Farkas|
A Toronto Blue Jays hat and glove in the dugout during the third inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Rogers Centre in 2024
A Toronto Blue Jays hat and glove in the dugout during the third inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Rogers Centre in 2024 | John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images

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Toronto Blue Jays

Toronto Blue Jays minor leaguer Eric Pardinho will represent Brazil at the upcoming World Baseball Classic qualifier, set to take place March 2-6 in Arizona.

Per Keegan Matheson of MLB.com on social media:

#BlueJays RHP Eric Pardinho will pitch for Brazil during the World Baseball Classic qualifiers in Arizona from March 2-6.

Brazil, China, Colombia and Germany will participate, the top two moving to the WBC in 2026.

Pardinho is in MLB camp with Toronto this spring.

Pardinho, a 24-year-old right-handed pitcher, was born in Luceila, Brazil. He was ranked as a Top-100 prospect by both Baseball America and MLB Pipeline before the 2019 season.

He's spent parts of six seasons in the minor leagues with the Jays system, beginning in 2019. Lifetime, he's 13-7 with a 4.22 ERA, serving mostly as a reliever, in 119 games.

Pardinho appeared in 45 games during the 2024 season with Double-A New Hampshire and Triple-A Buffalo. He was 0-0 with a 1.01 ERA in 21 games for New Hampshire and 2-1 with a 5.34 for Buffalo in 24 games.

While it seems likely that a minor league stint is on tap for Pardinho at the start of the season, he could get a chance to contribute at the big-league level later this year. The bullpen was one of the weakest spots on the roster last year for the Blue Jays, so there could be opportunity as the season moves forward.

As for the World Baseball Classic, Team Japan was the winner of the last version (2023). They defeated the United States in an epic final.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is the senior writer for “Minor League Baseball on SI’’ and the host of “The Payoff Pitch’’ podcast, which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. Follow Brady on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady.

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