The 2023 World Baseball Classic officially got underway Wednesday local time in Taichung, Taiwan. The Netherlands beats Cuba and Panama beat Chinese Taipei in the tournament's first two games. All 20 clubs will be in action by the end of the week. Here is the full WBC schedule and here is everything you need to know about this year's event.
Two-time WBC champion Japan will begin play Thursday against China and Shohei Ohtani will indeed be on the mound for their WBC opener. Manager Hideki Kuriyama confirmed Ohtani will be the team's Game 1 starter, though his role on offense is still undecided. Here's what Kuriyama told the Kyodo News:
"We have to win four games, so I have to think about the entire team and the entire roster and the different combinations within the lineup," Kuriyama said. "I still have to give our batting order a lot of thought."
When asked about pitching and hitting in Japan's WBC opener, Ohtani said "I don't know for sure, but I expect to do both." Ohtani made one start and threw 2 1/2 innings with the Los Angeles Angels before leaving spring training last week. He went 2 for 5 at the plate in three spring games in addition to all his behind-the-scene work on the backfields.
The first round of the WBC features four five-team pools. Each team will play every other team in its pool once, and the teams with the two best records in each pool will advance to the second round. From there, it's essentially an single-elimination eight-team bracket. Here is Japan's first round schedule (all games in Tokyo):
Thursday vs. China (5 a.m. ET)Friday vs. Korea (5 a.m. ET)Saturday vs. Czech Republic (5 a.m. ET)Sunday vs. Australia (6 a.m. ET)Japan has not announced their rotation beyond Ohtani, though Yu Darvish and righties Roki Sasaki and Yoshinobu Yamamoto are expected to follow in some order. Sasaki and Yamamoto are widely considered the two best pitchers in the world outside MLB. Japan and Korea are the heavyweights in their pool and Friday's game will be one of the tournament's must-watches.
Ohtani, 28, finished second in the MVP voting and fourth in the Cy Young voting last year. He will be a free agent after this season and figures to sign the richest contract in baseball history. This will be Ohtani's first time playing in the WBC. An ankle injury kept him out of the 2017 tournament.
