The 2023 World Baseball Classichas been underway with pool play in Taichung, Taiwan, and Tokyo, Japan. All four pools will be in action this weekend, including Team USA's first game of the tournament on Saturday night against Great Britain. That's one of eight games on the schedule Saturday.
By way of reminder, the first round of the WBC features four five-team pools. Each team plays every other team in its pool once, and the teams with the two best records in each pool advance to the quarterfinals and what is essentially a single-elimination eight-team tournament. Here is the full WBC schedule and here is everything you need to know about this year's event.
Now here's a recap of the games on Friday and (very) early Saturday.
Japan advances with win over Czech Republic
With its 10-2 win over the Czech Republic, Japan moved to 3-0 in pool play and became the first time to secure a spot in the quarterfinals. Right-hander Roki Sasaki, 21, struck out Czech eight batters 3 2/3 innings and regularly registered triple digits with his fastball.
Lefty Hiroya Miyagi worked five innings of relief for the save. On offense, Shohei Ohtani doubled and stole a base, and Shugo Maki homered while pinch-hitting for Ohtani. Lars Nootbaar added a single.
Panama survives with shutout win over Italy
In a game featuring stingy pitching and a number of highlight-reel defensive plays, Panama edged Italy by a score of 2-0 and thus remained alive in its bid to reach the next round of the WBC. Panama starter Harold Arauz set the tone with four scoreless frames, and Dodgers prospect Jose Ramos went 2 for 4 with a solo homer. One of the many defensive gems belonged to former Met Ruben Tejada:
The outcome of this one puts Pool A into a rather beautiful state of madness:
By way of reminder, here, in the very official-sounding language of MLB, is how pool ties will be broken:
The team that won the games between the teams tied shall be given the higher position. If three or more teams are tied and one of those teams won its games against all other teams it is tied with, then it will be placed in the higher spot. Similarly, if one of those tied teams lost its games against all other teams it is tied with, then it will be placed in the lowest spot.The tied teams shall be ranked in the standings according to the lowest quotient of fewest runs allowed divided by the number of defensive outs recorded in the games in that round between the teams tied.The tied teams shall be ranked in the standings according to the lowest quotient of fewest earned runs allowed divided by the number of defensive outs recorded in the games in that round between the teams tied.The tied teams shall be ranked in the standings according to the highest batting average in games in that round between the teams tied.Standings shall be determined by the drawing of lots.Chinese Taipei pulls off upset of Netherlands
Speaking of said Pool A madness, Chinese Taipei enabled it in a major way with a 9-5 upset of the Netherlands. The hosts asserted their authority early, much to the delight of the frenzied crowd, when first baseman Yu Chang crushed a second-inning grand slam off Netherlands starter Lars Huijer. Volume up for this one:
The 27-year-old Chang, who appeared in the majors with four different teams last season (!), is now batting .500/.571/1.083 with two home runs through his first three games of the WBC. Also doing some heavy lifting in this one was right-hander Che-Yuan Wu, who held the Netherlands scoreless across 4 1/3 innings of relief.
Australia mercies China
The Aussies moved to 2-0 in Pool B with a 12-2 win over China. By virtue of that 10-run lead, the mercy rule was invoked after seven innings. Australia went 7 for 16 with runners in scoring position, and second baseman Robbie Glendenning went 2 for 4 with a fourth-inning homer. Across the way, China starter Xin Qi allowed five runs on three hits in just 2 1/3 innings of work.
China is now 0-3 in pool play. While they can't advance this time around, the stakes are still high for them. They must pull off a major upset of Korea on Monday in order to avoid finishing in last place and thus lose lose automatic-qualifier status for the 2026 WBC. As for Australia, a clash with powerhouse Japan is up next.
