WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC PREVIEW

The World Baseball Classic returns on March 7th after a longer than expected break. The tournament is normally set to play every 4 years, but COVID caused the 2020 installment to be postponed and the MLB Lockout last Spring pushed it to 2023. This is the 5th installment of this exciting international festival of baseball.

The WBC started in 2006 and has grown in popularity and participation exponentially since its inception. Japan captured the first 2 WBC Championships, which I think added motivation for the best of the best from other nations to buy in and play. Japan has finished 3rd in the last 2 competitions, so needless to say that they are the gold standard. The Dominican Republic always has a loaded roster of elite talent and they captured their title in 2013 with a dominant display. The Kingdom of the Netherlands has finished 4th in the last 2 competitions. If you’re wondering how the Dutch got so good at baseball so quietly, take a look at their talented players from their Caribbean territories. Speaking of the Caribbean, the little and mighty island of Puerto Rico has been the Runner Up in the last 2 tournaments, but they have yet to capture the crown. Lastly, Team USA shook off 2 bad tournaments to win the 2017 WBC behind a host of clutch players. They are looking to defend their crown this year.

FAST FACTS FOR THE 2023 WBC:

• 2023 FIELD IS 20 TEAMS. PREVIOUS 4 TOURNAMENTS HAD 16, SO THIS IS THE LARGEST FIELD OF TEAMS.
• TEAMS ARE SPLIT INTO 4 PODS OF 5 TEAMS
• ALL GAMES ARE TELEVISED LIVE ON FOX, FS1, FS2, TUBI, FOX SPORTS APP
• POOL PLAY IS BASICALLY 4 GAMES IN A 6 DAY WINDOW AGAINST EVERY TEAM IN YOU POD.
• SINGLE ELIMINATION AFTER POOL PLAY IS COMPLETED
• TOP 2 TEAMS IN EACH POOL ADVANCE TO THE QUARTERFINALS

WHAT ARE THE RULES FOR PLAYERS COMPETING FOR A NATION?

• THE PLAYER IS A CITIZEN OF THAT NATION
• QUALIFIES FOR CITIZENSHIP OR TO HAVE A PASSPORT FROM THAT NATION PER THEIR LAWS
• IS A PERMANENT LEGAL RESIDENT OF THAT NATION
• WAS BORN IN THE TERRITORY OR NATION
• HAS AT LEAST ONE PARENT WHO WAS BORN IN THAT NATION, OR AT LEAST ONE PARENT WHO IS, OR IF THEY PASSED AWAY, WAS A CITIZEN OF THE NATION

PITCHING RULES FOR THE WBC:

• 65 PITCHES PER OUTING / PER PITCHER IS THE MAXIMUM IN POOL PLAY
• 80 PITCHES PER OUTING / PER PITCHER IS THE MAXIMUM IN THE QUARTERFINALS AND SEMIFINALS
• 95 PITCHES IS THE MAXIMUM IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
• A PITCHER CAN’T PITCH FOR A MINIMUM OF 4 DAYS BETWEEN APPEARANCES IF THEY THREW 50 OR MORE PITCHES IN THE PREVIOUS OUTING
• IF THE PITCHER THREW 30 OR MORE PITCHES, THEN IT MUST BE A 1 DAY BREAK
• IF A PITCHER DID THROW IN BACK TO BACK GAMES, THEY WOULD BE UNAVAILABLE FOR 1 DAY AFTER.

MERCY RULES:

• GAME IS OVER IF A TEAM HAS A 10 OR MORE RUN LEAD AFTER FULL 7 INNINGS
• THE GAME IS OVER AFTER 5 FULL INNINGS IF A TEAM HAS A 15 RUN LEAD OR MORE

BREAKDOWN OF THE WBC BRACKET:

POOL A & B ARE PLAYED IN TAIWAN AND JAPAN

• GAMES ARE A MIX OF 10PM / 11PM EST AND 5AM/6AM EST STARTS
• FIRST GAME OF THE TOURNAMENT IS MARCH 7TH AT 11PM EST BETWEEN CUBA AND THE KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS FROM TAIWAN.

POOL C & D ARE PLAYED IN MIAMI AND PHOENIX

• GAMES START ON MARCH 11TH WITH A NOON, 2:30PM EST, 7PM EST AND 9PM EST FIRST PITCH.

WHO ADVANCES TO THE QUARTERFINALS AND WHO WILL THEY PLAY?

• POOL A WINNER VS POOL B RUNNER UP (GAME 1)
• POOL B WINNER VS POOL A RUNNER UP (GAME 2)
• POOL C WINNER VS POOL D RUNNER UP (GAME 3)
• POOL D WINNER VS POOL C RUNNER UP (GAME 4)
• QUARTERFINALS WILL BE PLAYED IN TOKYO (GROUP A/ B) AND MIAMI (GROUP C/D) o MARCH 15TH – 18TH.
• IF JAPAN AND/OR USA ADVANCE TO THE QUARTERFINALS, THEY WOULD PLAY THE 2ND GAME IN EACH AREA REGARDLESS OF SEED

WBC SEMIFINALS:

• QUARTERFINAL GAME 1 WINNER VS QUARTERFINAL GAME 3 WINNER
• QUARTERFINAL GAME 2 WINNER VS QUARTERFINAL GAME 4 WINNER

WBC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME:

• MARCH 21ST IN MIAMI

POOL A (WITH NOTABLE PLAYERS): POOL PLAY IN TAIWAN

CHINESE TAIPEI (TAIWAN):

KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS:

• KENLEY JANSEN
• PEDRO STROP
• XANDER BOGAERTS
• DIDI GREGORIUS
• ANDRELTON SIMMONS
• JONATHAN SCHOOP

CUBA:

ITALY:

• MATT HARVEY
• DAVID FLETCHER

PANAMA:

POOL B (WITH NOTABLE PLAYERS): POOL PLAY IN TOKYO, JAPAN

JAPAN:

• YU DARVISH
• SHOHEI OHTANI
• MASATAKA YOSHIDA

SOUTH KOREA:

AUSTRALIA:

CHINA:

CZECH REPUBLIC:

-ERIC SOGARD

POOL C (WITH NOTABLE PLAYERS). POOL PLAY IN PHOENIX, ARIZONA

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:

• ADAM WAINWRIGHT
• DEVIN WILLIAMS
• JT REALMUTO
• WILL SMITH ( C. LA DODGERS)
• PETE ALONSO
• TIM ANDERSON
• NOLAN ARENADO
• PAUL GOLDSCHMIDT
• TREA TURNER
• BOBBY WITT JR
• MOOKIE BETTS
• MIKE TROUT
• KYLE TUCKER
• KYLE SCHWARBER
• CEDRIC MULLINS
• JEFF McNEIL

MEXICO:

• JULIO URIAS
• JOSE URQUIDY
• PATRICK SANDOVAL
• LUIS URIAS
• ALEX VERDUGO
• RANDY AROZARENA

COLUMBIA:

• JOSE QUINTANA
• JULIO TEHERAN
• DONOVAN SOLANO
• GIO URSHELA
• OSCAR MERCADO
• HAROLD RAMIREZ

CANADA:

• FREDDIE FREEMAN
• CAL QUANTRILL
• TYLER O’NEIL

GREAT BRITAIN:

• TRAYCE THOMPSON

POOL D (WITH NOTABLE PLAYERS). POOL PLAY IN MIAMI, FLORIDA

PUERTO RICO:

• JOSE BERRIOS
• EDWIN DIAZ
• JORGE LOPEZ
• MARCUS STROMAN (2017 TOURNAMENT MVP AND PITCHED FOR TEAM USA IN 2017)
• MARTIN MALDONADO
• CHRISTIAN VAZQUEZ
• JAVIER BAEZ
• FRANCISCO LINDOR
• EDDIE ROSARIO

VENEZUELA:

• JOSE ALVARADO
• JHOULYS CHACIN
• PABLO LOPEZ
• SALVADOR PEREZ
• OMAR NARVAEZ
• JOSE ALTUVE
• LUIS ARRAEZ
• EDUARDO ESCOBAR
• EUGENIO SUAREZ
• GLEYBER TORRES
• RONALD ACUNA JR
• DAVID PERALTA
• ANTHONY SANTANDER
• MIGUEL CABRERA

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC:

• SANDY ALCANTARA
• JOHNNY CUETO
• DIEGO CASTILLO
• CHRISTIAN JAVIER
• RAFAEL MONTERO
• GARY SANCHEZ
• FRANCISCO MEJIA
• WILLY ADAMES
• NELSON CRUZ
• RAFAEL DEVERS
• ROBINSON CANO
• WANDER FRANCO
• VLAD GUERRERO JR
• MANNY MACHADO
• KETEL MARTE
• JEAN SEGURA
• TEOSCAR HERNANDEZ
• ELOY JIMENEZ
• JULIO RODRIGUEZ
• JUAN SOTO

ISREAL:

• JOC PEDERSON
• ALEX DICKERSON

NICARAGUA:

• JONATHAN LOAISIGA
• CHESLOR CUTHBERT

GAMES TO CIRCLE ON YOUR CALENDAR:

• CUBA VS NETHERLANDS. MARCH 7TH. 11PM EST. FS1.
• PANAMA VS NETHERLANDS. MARCH 8TH. 11PM EST. FS2
• CHINA VS JAPAN. MARCH 9TH. 5AM EST. FS2
• SOUTH KOREA VS JAPAN. MARCH 10TH. 5AM EST. FS2
• DOMINICAN REPUBLIC VS VENEZUELA. MARCH 11TH. 7PM EST FS1
• GREAT BRITAIN VS USA. MARCH 11TH. 9PM EST. FOX
• VENEZUELA VS PUERTO RICO. MARCH 12TH. 7PM EST. FS1
• MEXICO VS USA. MARCH 12TH. 10PM EST. FS1
• SOUTH KOREA VS CHINA. MARCH 13TH. 6AM EST. FS2
• CANADA VS USA. MARCH 13TH. 10PM EST. FS1
• CANADA VS COLUMBIA. MARCH 14TH. 3PM EST. FS2
• MEXICO VS CANADA. MARCH 15TH. 3PM EST. FS1
• PUERTO RICO VS DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. MARCH 15TH. 7PM EST. FS2
• USA VS COLUMBIA. MARCH 15TH. 10PM EST. FS1

POOL PLAY PREDICTIONS:

• POOL A WINNER: NETHERLANDS
• POOL A RUNNER UP: CUBA
• POOL B WINNER: JAPAN
• POOL B RUNNER UP: SOUTH KOREA
• POOL C WINNER: USA
• POOL C RUNNER UP: MEXICO
• POOL D WINNER: DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
• POOL D RUNNER UP: VENEZUELA

QUARTERFINALS PREDICTION: (WINNER IN BOLD)

• SOUTH KOREA VS NETHERLANDS
• CUBA VS JAPAN
• MEXICO VS DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
• VENEZUELA VS USA

SEMIFINALS PREDICTION: (WINNER IN BOLD)

• NETHERLANDS VS DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
• JAPAN VS USA

WBC CHAMPIONSHIP PREDICTION:

• DOMINICAN REPUBLIC VS USA
• 2023 CHAMPION: DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

This is shaping up to be an amazing tournament based on the buy in from elite Major League players. Pool D is the Group of Death and the round robin matchups between the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Venezuela will be must watch tv. USA, Japan and the Dominican Republic are the favorites in my opinion, but Venezuela or Puerto Rico are dark horse candidates to capture their first World Baseball Classic championship.