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It’s no secret that the Dominican Republic has one of the most stacked rosters the World Baseball Classic has seen since its inception in 2006.

And the baseball world is about to get a taste of what the island nation and all its “Plátano Power” has to offer. It’s a country that loves its food and music — plátano is Spanish for plantain — and all of it is intertwined with baseball.

“We want to show the American people and everyone in the world that don’t exactly know,” said the team’s general manager and designated hitter Nelson Cruz, “what comes with being a proud Dominican.”

Infielders Ramón and Luis Urías share a bond not just with each other, but with their tight-knit Mexican hometown of Magdalena de Kino.

Known more for supplying kicks than for his Minor League career, Team Israel left-hander Alex Katz has a booming shoe business, and it’s only expanding at this year’s World Baseball Classic.

Jolbert Cabrera will be managing Colombia with his brother, Orlando, as a coach. The two former Major Leaguers grew up loving baseball in a soccer-crazy country thanks to their mother, Josefina Ramirez.

To mark the start of the World Baseball Classic this week, Hall of Famer Joe Torre visited the iconic New York skyscraper to flip the ceremonial switch that turned the tower’s lights into red, white and blue.

NL Rookie of the Year Michael Harris II is expected to be in the lineup when the Braves travel to St. Petersburg to play the Rays in Grapefruit League action live at 1 p.m. ET.

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