The 2023 World Baseball Classic is set to start very, very late on Tuesday, March 7 (schedule here!). If it seems like it's been a while, well, it has. The last WBC came in 2017. Remember Marcus Stroman dealing for Team USA in Dodger Stadium in the championship game against Puerto Rico? Yeah, that was the last WBC game. We don't need to rehash why the scheduled 2021 WBC didn't happen. We're all well aware by now.
The good news is this event is nearly upon us. It's not for everyone, but generally it's a very fun event that mixes in Major League Baseball players with some of the other very strong international leagues (NPB, KBO) in addition to getting to catch a glimpse of some minor-leaguers and even unknown international players.
Pool play comes before eight teams advance to the quarterfinals. If you're looking for drama in pool play, zero in on Pool D. In the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Puerto Rico, it has three of the top five teams in the event while Israel is capable of pulling off an upset.
Speaking of the "top five" teams, why don't we rank all 20 in the tournament? Off we go.
20. China
19. Czech Republic
18. Australia
17. Nicaragua
16. Great Britain
15. Italy
14. Panama
13. Colombia
12. Israel
11. Chinese Taipei
10. Canada
Freddie Freeman is a great place to start and Tyler O'Neill is a quality player. Past that, we're looking at names like Abraham Toro, Owen Caissie and Bo Naylor on the position-player side. The pitching staff is led by Cal Quantrill, Nick Pivetta and Matt Brash.
9. Cuba
White Sox fixtures Luis Robert and Yoan Moncada are the biggest active names on this squad, while Yoenis Cespedes is also an exciting reminder of what once was. Catcher Ariel Martinez Marrero might be recognized, as he's spent the last three seasons in Japan's NPB. There's talent here, but there's also been a downturn from the island nation in recent years. Speaking of, Cuba was the runner-up in 2006, but hasn't made the top four since.
8. Kingdom of Netherlands
Remember, this team includes players from Dutch islands in the Caribbean such as Curaçao and Aruba. This helps round out the squad with MLB talent like Xander Bogaerts, Didi Gregorius, Jurickson Profar, Jonathan Schoop and Andrelton Simmons. Former MLB player Wladimir Balentien is back with his career .469 WBC batting average. Kenley Jansen is skipping pool play but if they advance, he could be added to a bullpen that features Pedro Strop.
The Kingdom of Netherlands has finished fourth in each of the last two iterations of this tourney.
7. Korea
The biggest non-MLB name here -- which will be changing soon -- is 2022 KBO MVP Jung-Hoo Lee, who hit .349/.421/.575 with 36 doubles, 10 triples, 23 homers and 113 RBI in his 142 games. Ha-Seong Kim and Tommy Edman are the most well-known MLB players here. There's also a strong pitching staff that is said to be a bit ground ball-heavy, which is never a bad thing.
Korea was the runner-up in 2009 and finished third in 2006.
6. Mexico
This is the best roster Mexico has had in the event. The offense is led by the likes of Alejandro Kirk, Alex Verdugo, Randy Arozarena, Rowdy Tellez and Joey Meneses. The pitching staff is top heavy with Julio Urias, Jose Urquidy, Taijuan Walker and Patrick Sandoval. They'll be good enough in pool play to advance with USA, leaving behind Canada, Colombia and GBR.
Mexico has never finished in the top four.
5. Puerto Rico
Manager Yadier Molina boasts his lovable double-play combo of Javier Baez and Francisco Lindor. Molina is not a player-manager, but he has good defensive chops behind the plate in Martin Maldonado with capable backups MJ Melendez and Christian Vazquez. Other position players include Enrique Hernandez, Jose Miranda and Eddie Rosario.
An interesting twist here is Marcus Stroman leading the pitching staff. He was the MVP of the 2017 WBC for Team USA, throwing six scoreless innings in the championship against Puerto Rico. His mother is Puerto Rican and now Stroman is representing. Can Jose Berrios bounce back in 2023 after a miserable 2022? He can start with the WBC for Puerto Rico.
Also of note, the PR taking a lead into the eighth inning should mean a win with the Diaz brothers waiting. It's likely Alexis Diaz setting up for his brother, Edwin Diaz.
Puerto Rico has never won the WBC and has been the runner-up in the last two tournaments. No more bridesmaid, right?
4. Venezuela
There's a stockpile of big-name MLB talent here. Jose Altuve, Ronald Acuña, José Abreu, Andrés Giménez, Gleyber Torres, Luis Arraez, Salvador Perez, Eugenio Suárez and Anthony Santander are probably the top nine hitters, but the depth goes beyond that (David Peralta, Miguel Rojas and the legendary Miguel Cabrera are in there).
The starting rotation could include Pablo López, Jesus Luzardo, Martín Pérez and German Marquez while Ranger Suarez is a nice option to possibly go a few innings out of the bullpen or start if need be. Speaking of Suarez, his Phillies teammate Jose Alvarado makes for a quality late-inning reliever option.
Venezuela has a rich history of baseball talent, but has generally been a big disappointment in this tournament. Only once (2009) has it made it into the top four.
3. USA
The knock on USA would be the starting rotation. It looks like it'll be some combination of Lance Lynn, Adam Wainwright, Miles Mikolas, Kyle Freeland and Brady Singer. They could mix in Nick Martinez and Merrill Kelly, too. The back-end of the bullpen will be stout, though, with the likes of Ryan Pressly, Devin Williams and Kendall Graveman available to lock things down.
The offense is the key, though. J.T. Realmuto and Will Smith are the top two catchers. Some of the other big names: Pete Alonso, Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado, Trea Turner, Mookie Betts, Kyle Tucker, Kyle Schwarber and, oh, this dude named Mike Trout.
USA is the defending champion here and the plan is to become the second repeat champion.
2. Japan
Yu Darvish and Shohei Ohtani anchor a loaded pitching staff, but there's also Yoshinobu Yamamoto (1.68 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and 205 strikeouts in 193 NPB innings last season) and Roki Sasaki (2.02 ERA, 0.80 WHIP and 173 strikeouts in 129 1/3 innings).
Offensively, the man to know is Munetaka Murakami. He won NPB MVP last season after hitting .318/.458/.711 with 56 homers and 134 RBI in 141 games. And, obviously, Ohtani has a huge impact with the bat as well. Recent Red Sox signee Masataka Yoshida joins them, though unfortunately Cubs right fielder Seiya Suzuki has an oblique injury and had to drop out. Sticking with the NL Central, Cardinals slugger Lars Nootbar is on the squad. Another name to watch is Kazuma Okamoto. He's only 26 years old but already has five consecutive 30-homer seasons.
Japan also has great team speed and quality defensive catchers to work with the loaded rotation. Starting pitching won't be nearly as impactful in pool play, but once we get toward the end of the tournament, they can start working 5-6 innings and Japan has the best rotation in the tournament. This is a very strong pick to win the whole thing.
Japan is the only country with two wins in the WBC, as they took the first two (2006 and 2009). It is also the only country to finish in the top four all four times, as it finished third in the 2013 and 2017 tournaments.
1. Dominican Republic
Top to bottom, they are totally loaded. NL Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara and Astros frontline starter Cristian Javier head up the rotation that could also include wily veteran Johnny Cueto and star prospect Roansy Contreras. The bullpen has power arms like Camilo Doval and Rafael Montero along with plenty of depth. The starting lineup is ridiculous. Julio Rodriguez, Juan Soto, Manny Machado, Rafael Devers, Wander Franco, Jeremy Peña and it just keeps going (for real, they also have Ketel Marte, Willy Adames, Teoscar Hernandez and more). Losing Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. definitely hurts, but there's plenty of top-shelf depth here to compensate.
This team is loaded and heads into the tourney as the favorite. A win would mean the Dominican Republic matches Japan with two WBC titles, as DR previously won in 2013.
