Toronto Blue Jays pitching prospect Silvano Hechavarria will no longer participate in the 2026 World Baseball Classic, Francys Romero of Beisbol FR reported on Thursday.

The 22-year-old Hechavarria was previously slated to represent Cuba at this year’s best-on-best tournament for the first time in his career. But the young right-hander has yet to be cleared to pitch in games this spring, per Romero’s report, and has informed his home country that he won’t be available.

Coming off last season’s remarkable debut in North America, Hechavarria is solely focused on building on that momentum and having it carry over into his third year of pro ball.

Hechavarria finished the 2025 season at high-A Vancouver, posting a 3.22 ERA and 3.40 FIP with 19 strikeouts — seven of which came during his final start with the Canadians — and eight walks over four starts. But instead of repeating that level in ’26, it appears the organization intends to test the Cuban right-hander out of the gate by assigning him to double-A New Hampshire, Romero added.

The 6-foot-4, 227-pound hurler opened plenty of eyes with his impressive showing last year, climbing three levels — including the Florida Complex League, single-A Dunedin and lastly, high-A Vancouver — en route to earning a 2.28 ERA, 3.55 FIP and 17.1 per cent strikeout-minus-walk rate (K-BB%) across 19 combined outings (14 starts).

Before the ’25 campaign, Hechavarria hadn’t set foot on North American soil, spending his inaugural campaign with the Blue Jays organization in the Dominican Summer League. He made 10 starts in his age-21 season, logging 49.0 innings and recording a sparkling 1.84 ERA, while striking out nearly 30 per cent of his batters faced.

Hechavarria, who’s spent less than two years with the franchise since receiving a $240,000 signing bonus during the 2024 signing period, stands as one of the most promising international free agent signees in Toronto’s pipeline. With his mid-90s fastball, high-80s bat-missing slider and work-in-progress changeup/splitter, there’s plenty of potential for his rapid ascension through the minors to continue this season.

But rather than showcase himself on a global stage with Team Cuba this spring, the next time he’ll take the mound in a competitive game will have to wait until the minor-league season begins.