2023 World Baseball Classic

[Mac]

I’m not particularly a fan of the WBC, but the thing Mac linked is just…silly.

Yeah, well, it was posted for laughs, so....

[LoneStarPhan]

I really dislike the WBC and view it as a disruption of my enjoyment of baseball and the Phillies. Probably better than a strike or a lockout, but IMO clearly below the green bean casserole. I will be very, very happy when the WBC is over and frankly, I don't care who wins it.

[andyb]

The WBC will be fun even if it is a glorified exhibition and pitchers are limited to roughly the innings they would be throwing that week in Spring Training (3-6, scaling up till the finals).

Yes there is a risk of injury, but it is not much more than the risk in exhibition games. If they did the tournament midseason the risk might be even greater because the pitchers would go longer and would add tough innings in the middle of stretches where they have tough innings before and after in regular season games.

We have such a US-centric media view too. This tournament is for the rest of the world. It helps grow baseball. We get to see some players like those in Japan and Cuba that are really good and don't play in the majors. Sometimes the selfish "what is in it for me" view that pervades much of life becomes too prominent. It is an exhibition. The games are fun to watch. People can watch other things if they wish.

More roster stuff. Steve Potter's list includes ex-Phillies. A Nick Fanti sighting after he has not pitched in the minors the last few years. And Scott Mathieson. Has not pitched since 2019 in Japan. Wonder if he is contemplating one more showcase. He'll be 39 in a few weeks.

2/9/23 : Phillies/Ex Phillies on World Baseball Classic Rosters

[andyb]

WBC starts tomorrow night (11 PM in Asia, Cuba vs Netherlands). First US game is the Saturday the 11th against Great Britain. All games on FOX, FS1, or FS2. Here are the ESPN "power rankings":

World Baseball Classic Power Rankings: Is USA or Dominican Republic on top?

Here is Roki Sasaki hitting 165 (102.5) against the Dodgers.

Roki Sasaki just threw a pitch 102.5MPH!!

He joins Shohei Ohtani as the only Japanese pitchers to ever throw a pitch that hard.

He’s incredible.

pic.twitter.com/sEGFzmh4qA

— Ben Verlander ( @BenVerlander ) March 6, 2023

[andyb]

Not a single Athletic writer picks the U.S. We are underdogs!

Who will win the WBC? Who's the dark-horse team to watch? Our MLB writers weigh...

[zambonir]

It's kind of the best thing about the tournament, isn't it? Much more like hockey than basketball in terms of parity and there not being one or two 800-lb gorillas, even if there are still clear favorites. And for fans of every team but the US nobody really cares if it has an effect on the MLB season.

I saw Didi played 1B for the first time in his career last night for the Netherlands.

[andyb]

US starting rotation is not that good. All the big arms decided against it so the Dominican is probably better (though the starting lineups are close). JT might hit 8th or 9th for the US.

[andyb]

Rixon Wingrove 2-3 with a BB in Australia's 8-7 win over Korea. Ranger had a rough first outing against the Astros (1.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K). Alvarado with a scoreless inning though later in that game.

And somebody is learning a new position besides Didi:

Garrett Stubbs, 3rd baseman for team Israel pic.twitter.com/ShwEBYFMcr

— John Foley ( @2008Philz ) March 8, 2023

Marek Minarik with the win for the Czech Republic. He is one of the better pitchers in their domestic league now.

Czech Republic 8, China 5 Final Score (03/10/2023) on MLB Gameday

[zambonir]

Well, now we know Ranger was actually pulled.

Funny, Stubbs has played 2B but never 3B. Remember when Chooch played there?

[andyb]

Wingrove 2-3 with 4 RBI against China (worst team in the field - not Taiwan).

US-based pools open today. Big Dominican-Venezuela pool game today. They really should not have been in the same group. US plays the evil Brits at 9 PM (supplemented by a bunch of Bahamas players and Atlanta-born catcher Harry Ford (12th overall pick a couple of years ago with parents born in Britain).

[schillingfan]

I’m watching a good extra inning game between Mexico and Columbia right now. Oops, not in extra innings yet. Man in scoring position for Mexico in the bottom of the ninth.

Of course the 100+ MPH reliever who pitches the 9th and 10th inning for Columbia belongs to St. Loiuis. They have the MOST players in the WBC of course.

[andyb]

Lots of Phillies and former Phillies in the US-Great Britain game.

First this:

Kyle Schwarber has homered in the:
World Series
AL Championship Series
NL Championship Series
AL Division Series
NL Division Series
AL Wild Card Game
NL Wild Card Game
World Baseball Classic

It's insane.pic.twitter.com/FWktXZkDxW

— Codify ( @CodifyBaseball ) March 12, 2023

Schwarber, Realmuto and Turner all starting for the US. Nick Ward playing 1B for GB. Old friend Darnell Sweeney playing (and kind of butchering) SS. Vance Worley with the start.

Elsewhere Jayden Estanista got the start this morning and pitched 2 scoreless for the Netherlands against Italy (though the next pitcher gave up a bunch of runs). Pool A (by far the weakest of the pools) looks like it will finish with all 5 teams at 2-2. Good luck with that tiebreaker.

Looked it up. Here is the tiebreaker:
1. Lowest quotient of fewest runs allowed divided by the number of defensive outs recorded in games between the teams that are tied.
2. Lowest quotient of fewest earned runs allowed divided by the number of defensive outs recorded in games between the teams that are tied.
3. Highest batting average in games in that round between the teams tied.

Maybe they should just go with run differential? Or home run derby?

[BostonRoss]

It cracks me up how the eligibility rules are designed to provide enough players for countries that have little interest in baseball. If I understand correctly, Vance Worley is eligible for Great Britain because his mother’s from Hing Kong, which isn’t even part of the UK anymore! I wonder if Vanimal has ever been to the UK.

[zambonir]

That seems pretty universal to international competition though. And citizenship for that matter - I have two friends who just got their Irish passports because of great-grandparents. And the Chinese Olympics hockey team was full of Americans. I imagine the UK eligibility includes a great number of colonies that have been independent for a lot longer than Hong Kong. Of course none of them would ever make the soccer team.

[BostonRoss]

Wow, I qualify for five Olympic teams! (Well, not athletically…)

The difference here is that MLB is trying to expand their field. In the Olympics, it’s the countries and athletes themselves trying to get in.

[andyb]

Cuba and Italy advance, though I think a 3 run HR by the Netherlands in the 9th inning of their 7-1 loss would have put them through.

Not sure there is a great way to do this. Maybe 16 teams should play a 3-game series and then single elimination the rest of the way to get the thing done quickly. 3-game series all the way would also be fun but that would stretch it to 2 weeks (and give the TV networks more uncertainty as to how many games they would cover).

Stubbs leading off and playing 3B for Israel. Single in the first.

[andyb]

That seems pretty universal to international competition though. And citizenship for that matter

It is definitely a little looser in the WBC where it extends to parental eligibility and then various types of Commonwealth status. Great Britain of course would be terrible without the Bahamas and the Netherlands has many more players from Curacao and Aruba that legit Europeans like Bert Blyleven. Though Sir Didi was born in Amsterdam.

Italy is all second generation Americans for the most part. And since any Jewish person worldwide is generally eligible to apply for Israeli citizenship (though Netanyahu is trying to change some of that - for another thread) all those players are eligible for Israel even though they are not citizens. In the Olympics you actually have to apply for and get citizenship and soccer deals with this by making players choose once they are old enough for adult teams.

So it is definitely looser in the WBC but that still does not make it fun to watch. I am guessing this is great for baseball worldwide even if lots of 6-year-old British kids are not going to start playing the game. They might be in the market for Harry Ford jerseys though.

The World clearly needs more of this:

Great Britain's D'Shawn Knowles pulled out the sipping tea celebration. #WorldBaseballClassic pic.twitter.com/Y0blhiXSAb

— 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐬 ( @sportingnews ) March 12, 2023

[el-pietro]

That seems pretty universal to international competition though. And citizenship for that matter - I have two friends who just got their Irish passports because of great-grandparents.

You can't get an Irish passport if your only relative with citizenship is a Great-Grand Parent. Its limited to Grand Parents.

[zambonir]

Must be mistaken, certainly still possible it's their grandparents!

[andyb]

This is what happens when you rest all 3 Philly starters:

With two bombs and a bat flip against the U.S., the legend of Joey Meneses grows