The 2023 World Baseball Classic will take place March 8th to March 21st. The teams are split into four groups (pools) and the first round will take place in four locations.
The top two teams from each group will advance to the quarterfinals, and from there four teams will remain where the championship game and runner-up game will take place. Here is a breakdown of the groups and teams as I see it.
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World Baseball Classic Team Breakdowns
USA, Dominican Republic and Japan are the main players and are all taking this tournament very seriously. Here is a breakdown of the rosters as we know them as of the time of writing this article.
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USA World Baseball Classic Roster
The USA has held back from sending the best players in the past due to fear of injury or MLB contract complications. That is not the case this year.
This is a star-studded lineup with good depth and full of names we all know. Here is what the lineup is shaking out to look like:
C J.T. Realmuto, Philadelphia Phillies
C Will Smith, Los Angeles Dodgers
1B Pete Alonso, New York Mets
1B Paul Goldschmidt, St. Louis Cardinals
2B Trevor Story, Boston Red Sox
3B Nolan Arenado, St. Louis Cardinals
3B Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City Royals
SS Tim Anderson, Chicago White Sox
SS Trea Turner, Philadelphia Phillies
OF Mookie Betts, Los Angeles Dodgers
OF Cedric Mullins, Baltimore Orioles
OF Kyle Schwarber, Philadelphia Phillies
OF Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angles
OF Kyle Tucker, Houston Astros
SP Merrill Kelly, Arizona Diamondbacks
SP Nestor Cortes, New York Yankees
SP Kyle Freeland, Colorado Rockies
SP Brady Singer, Kansas City Royals
SP Adam Wainwright, St. Louis Cardinals
SP Logan Webb, San Francisco Giants
RP David Bednar, Pittsburgh Pirates
RP Dillon Tate, Baltimore Orioles
RP Devin Williams, Milwaukee Brewers
LP Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers
Yeah, Mike Trout and Mookie Betts? The USA is not messing around. The rotation with Webb, Kelly, Cortes and Freeland looks solid (if not dynamic) and Kershaw on call for starter or bullpen duty if needed makes for solid pitching.
This team should be able to put a lot of runs on the board and the pitching should be good enough to propel them to the championship game. The USA is the most balanced team in the tournament.
Dominican Republic World Baseball Classic Roster
DR has a Major League roster and certainly has a chance of taking it all. Here is the stellar rotation:
Sandy Alcantara
Framber Valdez
Cristian Javier
Luis Castillo
Follow that rotation up with these relievers:
Bryan Abreu
Camilo Doval
Diego Castillo
Emmanuel Clase
Felix Bautista
Genesis Cabrera
Gregory Soto
Jhoan Duran
Rafael Montero
Seranthony Dominguez
Wandy Peralta
Yimi Garcia
Reynaldo Lopez
Here are the position players:
Gary Sanchez
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Jose Ramirez
Jeremy Pena
Manny Machado
Starling Marte
Julio Rodriguez
Juan Soto
Eloy Jimenez
Rafael Devers
Francisco Mejia
Ketel Marte
Nelson Cruz (DH)
Pedro Severino
Robinson Cano (2B)
Teoscar Hernandez
Wander Franco
Pitching is the strength here and there are stars on the hitting side as well. It will be interesting to see how this pitching-strong team matches with a team like Japan, which is also pitch-reliant.
This team does not have the balance that the US has, but there is enough star power to win against anyone in the tournament in any one game.
Japan World Baseball Classic Roster
Japan wants to win this. They want to follow up Olympic gold with a WBC trophy. Asian countries take these international tournaments seriously and this roster is no joke.
The Japanese rotation will BY FAR be the best rotation in the tournament, hands down.
1. Shohei Ohtani
2. Yu Darvish
3. Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Japan’s Cy Young winner)
4, Roki Sasaki (Japan’s #2 pitcher)
5. Shota Imanaga (Japan Series winner)