ORLANDO, Fla. — Fish, chips and 105 mph fastballs.

Boston Red Sox closer Aroldis Chapman, the lefty flame-thrower nicknamed “The Cuban Missile,” could be pitching for Great Britain in the 2026 World Baseball Classic. Chapman, who turns 38 this winter, is on Great Britain’s preliminary roster for the 2026 WBC, according to journalist Francys Romero, and is awaiting approval from the Red Sox to participate.

“You don’t know ’til you know,” Great Britain manager Bradley Marcelino said Tuesday at MLB’s Winter Meetings. “You hear good things. You hear the interest level. We’re very optimistic. But in this environment, you don’t want to get too far ahead because there’s the (MLB) team, the eligibility part, all those things that you have to continue to work through.”

Chapman pitched for his native Cuba in the 2009 WBC, mere months before defecting during a tournament in the Netherlands, and has not appeared in a WBC since. Gary Anderson, performance director for the Great Britain team, explained that Chapman is eligible to play for Great Britain “through heritage through British overseas territories with his family.”

Chapman’s paternal grandparents emigrated to Cuba from Jamaica, which was a British colony until 1962.

“He is very excited,” Anderson said. “He wanted to make it very clear that he was interested. As soon as he’s interested, we’re interested.”

Great Britain qualified for the WBC for the first time in 2023 and went 1-3, beating Colombia and losing to the United States, Canada and Mexico. They are in Pool B for the 2026 WBC, along with the U.S., Mexico, Italy and Brazil.

Runs will be hard to come by, but if Great Britain can carry a lead into the ninth inning, they’ll have a big arm ready. Chapman posted a 1.17 ERA and 32 saves for the Red Sox in 2025, his eighth All-Star season in the majors.

“Truly exciting,” Anderson said of possibly having Chapman on Great Britain’s final roster. “What it does is give a lot of credibility to the program. Players like that then attract other players as well. It shows how serious we are about progression. We want to get out of the group and get down to Miami, and someone like Chapman is going to increase our chances.”