Monday, October 12

Welcome to the International Beat newsletter. I'm MLB.com's Michael Clair. Thanks for being here. 

With a Cuban grandfather, brothers on the Puerto Rico national water polo team, and a French last name, you might think that Cardinals Minor League coach Paul Benoit was destined for a life in international baseball. But that’s the furthest thing from the truth for the former double major in mechanical engineering and robotics. 

Instead of a life lived upon infield clay and grass, he had a different career path all planned out: After graduating from Kennesaw State, he was working full-time as a software developer before the grip of baseball became too much for him to ignore. He wanted to be on the field. He wanted to coach. 

He got his foot in the door at Post University, a small school in Connecticut for the cool sum of $1,000 a year. From there, with at least some coaching experience on his resume, he went to Ottawa University in Kansas as the assistant hitting coach, helping the team smash offensive records. He next went to Towson, a DI school, and the same thing happened. Eventually, he landed a role with the Cardinals in 2024 that has seen him work for the team’s affiliates in Palm Beach, Springfield and now in the Dominican Republic. 

All that experience helped prepare him for his globetrotting tour around the world, a Jules Verne-esque circumnavigation for the baseball set. After wrapping up his first season in professional baseball, Benoit packed his bag – literally a bag, the rest of his space on the plane being taken up for equipment to be donated – and headed for the idyllic peaks of Bhutan. 

“I brought over two full bags, like baseball bags, the type that you see the Little League kids roll around,” Benoit said. “I got two of those bags full of old equipment that people donated to me, and some of the stuff that my mom was happy to see go from her house. I brought probably 15 baseball bats, 32 [elastic] bands, four gloves, a full set of catcher’s gear, a full set of umpires’ gear, a fungo bat. I brought everything that I could fit in those two bags. The only thing I took on this trip, as far as clothing, was my carry-on bag. So, for 40 days I was essentially backpacking.” 

Paul Benoit, center, poses with Bhutan's baseball players. Photo courtesy Paul Benoit.

From there, he went to Taiwan before later going to Finland and Czechia. In one offseason, he spanned the gamut of baseball development and skill: Helping lay the foundation for the future in places like Bhutan and Finland, while offering direction for the high-end talent in places like Taiwan – reigning winners of the Premier12 – and the fan favorite Czechs.  

That meant modifying his instruction at each location, something he realized when he unloaded the gloves from his bag in Bhutan, finding kids shocked to learn that there weren’t just catcher’s mitts and one glove for everything else: “The very first question was, ‘Whoa, there are different gloves for infielders and outfielders?’” 

But Benoit’s goal wasn’t just to turn these kids into bonafide big leaguers by the time he left: It was to share the knowledge he had accumulated with young players who could benefit from it. 

“The reason anyone gets into coaching, if you’re getting into it for the right reasons, is because you want to develop young people to be better, holistically, on and off the field,” Benoit said. “Baseball is a microcosm of life. By getting better at baseball and the various aspects demanded of you in the game – being able to deal with failing, having discipline, being accountable, having focus – when you get better at all of those, it makes you a better person, a better human.” 

In Taiwan, he saw the advanced work being done with pitchers, mirroring what is going on in the big American pitching laboratories. He saw a baseball program brimming with talent and passion. 

“Going from a developing country of baseball to a developed country of baseball is a unique juxtaposition. Bhutan’s best players could probably play at a varsity high school level, and then in Taiwan, I was working with 16, 17 year olds that can easily compete in college.” 

But it wasn’t the raw talent that excited Benoit so much: 

“The fact that these kids work so hard, they love what they’re doing and they’re all-in on the modern terms of development created an unparalleled culture and unrushed environment,” Benoit said. “I had so much fun for hours and hours with a different set of kids every day, working and getting better at baseball.” 

Paul Benoit helps lead training with players in Taiwan. Photo courtesy of Paul Benoit.

It was a similar juxtaposition in Europe. When he arrived in Czechia, and headed to Třebíč where the Nuclears play, he was surprised to find youth teams out on the field, having expected to find only more advanced age groups. But that’s where the team’s bronze medal in the 2025 European Baseball Championship and appearances in the previous two World Baseball Classic tournaments have made an impact: Even though the team will need to qualify for the next tournament, Czechia is fast becoming a baseball nation. 

“It was fascinating to see how much baseball they already knew, and how much they've already done. When I got there, it was like, ‘Man, these guys are ready to play at a professional level. They showed that in the WBC. it was pretty evident they belonged on the field. It wasn't like they never belonged in the first place,” Benoit said. 

But in Finland, where pesapallo – the Finnish version of baseball – is the country’s preferred bat-and-ball sport, Benoit had a different challenge. There, where the American pastime is still trying to find a foothold (pesapallo actually was inspired by American baseball), the players had many more questions. 

“They were asking why [they were doing certain drills]. It wasn’t disrespectful, it was true curiosity, like ‘I want to deeply understand what’s happening and why we’re doing this,’” Benoit said. “There was this keen curiosity about the game and about the drills and practices and strength and conditioning program. We probably talked about it for two hours in a classroom in Finland.” 

Paul Benoit, center, with the Třebíč Nuclears of the Czech Extraliga. At the far left is Alex Derhak, hitting coach for the Czech national baseball team, and Marek Krejčiřík, who was on the 2023 and '26 WBC teams.

Now working with the Cardinals in the D.R., Benoit is in a true baseball nation with players who are brought up in a game that borders on a religion. But what has stood out is the support the players have for each other – even for those on opposing teams. 

“It's never an us versus them feel,” Benoit said. “It's always a ‘we're in this together and we're enjoying the game,’ feel. We're going to celebrate each other's success, even if we're in different organizations.” 

When the season is over, Benoit could go back home. He could relax over the winter. Instead, he’s already planning to set up some more camps and training sessions around the globe, adding ever more frequent flyer miles, spending another winter living out of a backpack. 

But the thought doesn’t tire Benoit. 

“I’ve always been really interested in growing the game globally,” Benoit said. “My biggest interest within baseball is continuing to grow the game because I love it so much. I have such a passion for it, I want everybody else to have that same love and passion for the game.” 

A dinosaur helps teach kids how to play baseball. Photo by Jody Davies/BaseballSoftballUK

• Dinosaurs … and baseball? It’s not as strange as you might think! Elizabeth Muratore looks at how the latest Play Ball event in the UK managed to combine the two. 
• Perhaps the best part of the World Cup? All of the international soccer fans filling MLB parks. Perhaps none have done it as well as Scotland’s Tartan Army, who started their MLB tour at Boston’s Fenway Park. They followed that up with a trip to Miami. 
• Norway’s fans then filled Citi Field when the Cubs took on the Mets. 
• Curacao, the island nation home to fewer than 160,000 people, is the smallest nation to ever reach the World Cup. They have at least one Red Sox who is enjoying the run: center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela. 
• In honor of the 180th anniversary of the first ever baseball game in Hoboken, N.J., the Yokohama BayStars wore some special 19th century “fauxbacks.” I really like these unis. 
• The ABL announced its schedule for the 2025-26 season. Four teams will compete in the 10-week schedule, as Curtis Mead and Travis Bazzana currently fight for spots in the MLB All-Star Game.
• Rintaro Sasaki put on a show at the MLB Draft Combine: He smashed a 458-foot home run that came off the bat at 115.4 mph. 
• Javier Sanoja's steal for Venezuela to set up the championship-winning run has become the World Baseball Classic's Dave Roberts moment. I spoke with the Marlins superutility player who admitted that it wasn't Venezuela manager Omar López who called for the play. 

SEE THIS

National team players Max Prejda, Ondřej Satoria, and Simon Drapela model the new unis.

Next time you see Czechia take the field, they'll look a little different. The organization has rebranded as Baseball Czechia and has unveiled three brand new uniforms. 

“Particularly following our historic achievements at the European Championship, where we won the bronze medal, and at the World Baseball Classic, which captivated the entire country as well as the global baseball community, it became necessary to create a modern, dynamic, and internationally recognizable brand. For several years now, Czech baseball has been perceived as a respected and well-established brand,” said Petr Ditrich, President of the Czech Baseball Association.

Partnering with the Go4Gold agency, Baseball Czechia's new look brings in a brighter blue that matches its flag and combines elements of U.S. uniform design and classical Czech typography. 

“It is a great honor for us to launch this new visual identity together with Baseball Czechia. The concept combines classic American baseball aesthetics with the tradition of Czech typography. Its centerpiece is the custom-designed Homerun CZ typeface, inspired by the legacy of Czech typographers from the First Czechoslovak Republic,” explained Dominik Bouček, Project Lead at Go4Gold.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH

Wearing the Marlins' throwback unis, Otto Lopez raps out another hit. 

One of the Marlins' three Canadian stars, Otto Lopez is having a breakout season for the Fish. The two-time World Baseball Classic star for Canada -- he also lined up for the D.R. in the Premier12 -- is leading the league with a .340 batting average at the time of this writing. His 16 stolen bases are tied for 12th in the Majors and are four shy of tying his career-high. The performance has helped the Marlins get into the thick of the Wild Card race. 

He also credits his time in the World Baseball Classic.

“It felt great because we ended up in Spring Training all together and just worked out what we'll be doing,” Lopez said. “Then the WBC was a good moment. We trained together, played together the whole time, and now here, we just keep doing what we're doing there.”

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For tips, hints, or just to talk about international baseball, find me @michaelsclair on X/Twitter and IG or email me at Michael.Clair@MLB.com.

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