Topicmaster1010

It's starting

March 6th Exhibition Games Results Pool B (vs. Japanese Baseball Clubs) South Korea 7-4 Hanshin Tigers Australia 8-1 Saibu Gas China 7-5 Miyazaki Umeda School Japan 9-1 ORIX Buffaloes Czech Republic 9-4 JR Kyushu Railway

You can find all the updated rosters on the first post of this thread. Just waiting for a few more injury replacements. Unfortunately, we've lost a few players since rosters were announced (mostly due to injuries). Some notable names include: Nick Pivetta Tito Polo, Jose Quintana, Donovan Solano Jarlin Garcia, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Jose Leclerc, Gregory Soto Jake Bird Seiya Suzuki Alejandro Kirk Ivan Herrera Jose Miranda Clayton Kershaw, Nestor Cortes Jr. German Marquez A huge shame but the good news is that there's still so many great players that will be playing. I still think this is the tournament with the most star power as of yet. Trout, Betts, Turner, Goldschmidt, Arenado, Pressly, Soto, Rodriguez, Devers, Machado, Alcantara, Doval, Ohtani, Murakami, Sasaki, Yamamoto, Darvish, Acuna, Altuve, Urias, Arozarena, Lindor, Baez, Diaz, Lee, Edman, Kim, Robert, Moinelo, Freeman, Bogaerts and more. As a big baseball and ice hockey fan, I've been waiting six years for a best-on-best tournament and that drought finally ends today.

Ooh, Mexico winning over the US, I like that! One small nitpick: In the semifinals, the teams from the Asian pools and the U.S. pools cross over so the matchups should be South Korea vs. Venezuela and Japan vs. United States. Looks great otherwise!

Thanks! It's honestly super close between the top 3 teams. You can make an argument for any of them as the best team in the tournament. Should be exciting either way!

[hide] Event & Date Athletes Gold Silver Bronze Women's 1500m Day 1 March 11th 2023 Hanne Desmet x Claudia Gagnon Courtney Sarault Renee Marie Steenge Any Chinese Athlete Anna Seidel Arianna Sighel Olga Tikhonova Selma Poutsma Suzanne Schulting x Xandra Velzeboer Choi Minjeong x Kim Gilli Shim Suk Hee Kristen Santos-Griswold Any Other Athlete Men's 1500m Day 1 March 11th 2023 Brendan Corey Stijn Desmet Pascal Dion Any Other Canadian Athlete Any Chinese Athlete Pietro Sighel x Nurtilek Kazhgali Reinis Berzins Friso Emons Sjinkie Knegt Jens van 't Wout x Hong Kyung Hwan Park Ji Won x Any Other Korean Athlete Any Other Athlete Women's 500m Day 1 March 11th 2023 Kim Boutin x Rikki Doak Petra Jaszapati Selma Poutsma Suzanne Schulting x Xandra Velzeboer x Natalia Maliszewska Nikola Mazur Choi Minjeong Seo Whimin Any Other Korean Athlete Kristen Santos-Griswold Corinne Stoddard Any Other Athlete Men's 500m Day 1 March 11th 2023 Stijn Desmet Steven Dubois x Maxime Laoun Any Other Canadian Athlete Lin Xiaojun x Zhong Yuchen Pietro Sighel Any Japanese Athlete Abzal Azhgaliyev Denis Nikisha Jens van 't Wout Any Other Dutch Athlete Diane Sellier Lim Yong Jin Any Other Korean Athlete x Any Other Athlete Women's 1000m Day 2 March 12th 2023 Hanne Desmet x Kim Boutin Courtney Sarault x Zhang Chutong Anna Seidel Selma Poutsma Suzanne Schulting x Xandra Velzeboer Kim Gilli Shim Suk Hee Any Other Korean Athlete Kristen Santos-Griswold Corinne Stoddard Any Other Athlete Men's 1000m Day 2 March 12th 2023 Pascal Dion x Steven Dubois Any Other Canadian Athlete Any Chinese Athlete Quentin Fercoq Adil Galiakhmetov Roberts Kruzbergs Jens van 't Wout x Any Other Dutch Athlete Hong Kyung Hwan Park Ji Won x Any Other Korean Athlete Furkan Akar Any Other Athlete Mixed 2000m Relay Day 2 March 12th 2023 Canada x China Hungary Italy Netherlands x Poland South Korea x Any Other Nation Women's 3000m Relay Day 2 March 12th 2023 Canada China x Hungary Italy Netherlands x Poland South Korea x Any Other Nation Men's 5000m Relay Day 2 March 12th 2023 Canada x China x Hungary Italy Japan Kazakhstan Netherlands South Korea x Any Other Nation [/hide]

March 6th Exhibition Games Results Pool A (vs. Taiwanese Baseball Clubs) Italy 10-1 Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions Cuba 6-0 CTBC Brothers Netherlands 2-4 TSG Hawks Gonna add the other two scores once I find the scores Pool B (vs. Japanese Baseball Clubs) South Korea 2-4 ORIX Buffaloes Australia 3-15 JR Kyushu Railway China 2-6 Saibu Gas Japan 8-1 Hanshin Tigers Czech Republic 7-5 Miyazaki Umeda Driving School

Topicmaster1010's 2023 WBC Power Rankings: Final Edition Here's the last two tiers. Tier 2: The Contenders 6. Puerto Rico WBC History: 2006 - 5th, 2009 - 5th, 2013 - 2nd, 2017 - 2nd 2023 Schedule: 3/11 - vs. Puerto Rico, 3/12 - vs. Venezuela, 3/13 - vs. Israel, 3/14 - Off, 3/15 - @ Dominican Republic Notable Absences: Carlos Correa, Jose Miranda, Joe Jimenez, Seth Lugo Players to Watch: Francisco Lindor, Javier Baez, Edwin Diaz, Marcus Stroman The back-to-back finalists find themselves ranked 6th in these power rankings. Perhaps it might be confusing to some but unfortunately Puerto Rico isn't quite at the level it was 6 years ago and are missing some key pieces for this tournament. However, there past record in the WBC shows that they can play well against top teams in the tournament even with a weaker team on paper beating the likes of Japan, Venezuela, DR and the US over the last two tournaments. They will need to do so again if they want to return to the championship game and win the whole thing. 5. Mexico WBC History: 2006 - 6th, 2009 - 8th, 2013 - 11th, 2017 - 13th 2023 Schedule: 3/11 - vs. Colombia, 3/12 - @ United States, 3/13 - Off, 3/14 - vs. Great Britain, 3/15 - @ Canada Notable Absences: Alejandro Kirk, Andres Munoz, Ramon Urias, Luis Gonzalez Players to Watch: Julio Urias, Patrick Sandoval, Randy Arozarena, Alex Verdugo No, Mexico at 5th in the rankings is not a mistake. This is the best Mexican team that's ever been assembled and I think they can contend with any team in this tournament. They've always had decent pitchers in the past but now they have a good offense to go along with that along with one of the best pitching staffs in this tournament. 4. Venezuela WBC History: 2006 - 7th, 2009 - 3rd, 2013 - 10th, 2017 - 8th 2023 Schedule: 3/11 - vs. Dominican Republic, 3/12 - @ Puerto Rico, 3/13 - Off, 3/14 - vs. Nicaragua, 3/15 - @ Israel Notable Absences: German Marquez, Willson Contreras, Brusdar Graterol, Robert Suarez Players to Watch: Ronald Acuna Jr., Jose Altuve, Pablo Lopez, Luis Arraez Arguably no country has disappointed more in the WBC than Venezuela over it's history. The baseball powerhouse has only podiumed once in it's history and has had it's 2 worst showings in each of the last two editions of the tournament. However, there is more reason for optimism this time around. Many people say that this is the best Venezuelan team ever assembled and a big part of that is that the pitching, which was Venezuela's downfall last time, is much improved. It doesn't have the depth or the top end talent of the 3 teams ranked ahead of it but they will definitely contend for the championship. Tier 1: The Favourites 3. United States WBC History: 2006 - 8th, 2009 - 4th, 2013 - 6th, 2017 - 1st 2023 Schedule: 3/11 - vs. Great Britain, 3/12 - vs. Mexico, 3/13 - vs. Canada, 3/14 - Off, 3/15 - @ Colombia Notable Absences: Clayton Kershaw, Nestor Cortes, Aaron Judge, Bryce Harper, probably 20+ other pitchers Players to Watch: Mike Trout, Mookie Betts, Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado, Trea Turner Surprise, surprise! The defending champions come in at #3 in the rankings which may surprise some of you. There is no question that no country produces more baseball talent than the United States. However, when it comes to recruiting that talent to play, then it's a different story. While most of the best hitters are on the team this year, a multitude of starting pitchers still don't want to play in this tournament and as a result, it becomes the USA's weakness which for me, is enough to put them behind 2 teams in these rankings. 2. Japan WBC History: 2006 - 1st, 2009 - 1st, 2013 - 3rd, 2017 - 3rd 2023 Schedule: 3/9 - vs. China, 3/10 - vs. South Korea, 3/11 - vs. Czech Republic, 3/12 - @ Australia, 3/15 - Off Notable Absences: Seiya Suzuki, Yuki Yanagita, Kaima Taira, Hayato Sakamoto, Tomoya Mori Players to Watch: Shohei Ohtani, Munetaka Murakami, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Roki Sasaki They've already won the tournament twice and yet many people believe that this is the best edition of Samurai Japan that's ever been assembled. It's easy to see why. There are exciting players to watch at just about every position including what I believe to be the best starting rotation in the tournament. It would be a massive shock if this team didn't at least make it to the semifinals. 1. Dominican Republic WBC History: 2006 - 4th, 2009 - 9th, 2013 - 1st, 2017 - 5th 2023 Schedule: 3/11 - @ Venezuela, 3/12 - Off, 3/13 - @ Nicaragua, 3/14 - vs. Israel, 3/15 - vs. Puerto Rico Notable Absences: Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Jose Ramirez, Fernando Tatis Jr., Emmanuel Clase, Jhoan Duran, Framber Valdez, Luis Castillo, Wandy Peralta, Luis Severino, Seranthony Dominguez, Felix Bautista, Jose Leclerc, Gregory Soto Players to Watch: Sandy Alcantara, Manny Machado, Juan Soto, Rafael Devers, Julio Rodriguez, Camilo Doval Despite so many missing names from this team, I still think the Dominican Republic is the team to beat at this WBC. While the US is weak at pitching and Japan's offense isn't as great as its pitching, the DR has the most well-rounded team of the 3 favourites. What could've been a superteam is still an insanely good team and there are stars at every position still. Full Rankings: 1. Dominican Republic 2. Japan 3. United States 4. Venezuela 5. Mexico 6. Puerto Rico 7. South Korea 8. Cuba 9. Colombia 10. Canada 11. Italy 12. Netherlands 13. Taiwan 14. Israel 15. Panama 16. Nicaragua 17. Australia 18. Great Britain 19. Czech Republic 20. China

I believe today's game was with their MLB players

March 5th Exhibition Games Results Pool A (vs. Taiwanese Baseball Clubs) Panama 8-4 Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions Netherlands 1-2 Fubon Guardians Italy 3-3 Wei Chuan Dragons Cuba 4-5 Rakuten Monkeys Taiwan 13-9 CTBC Brothers

Death, taxes, a Canadian in 4th place

In addition to all those, she's also swum a 1:00.25 100m Backstroke, 57.92 100m Butterfly, 1:10.39 100m Breaststroke, and 2:29.56 200m Breaststroke which aren't too bad either!

Topicmaster1010's 2023 WBC Power Rankings: Part 3 Been a while since the last edition. I"ll try to get another edition done later today. Tier 3: Dark Horses 9. Colombia WBC History: 2017 - 11th 2023 Schedule: 3/11 - @ Mexico, 3/12 - Off, 3/13 - @ Great Britain, 3/14 - vs. Canada, 3/15 - vs. United States Notable Absences: Luis Patino, Donovan Solano Players to Watch: Jose Quintana, Gio Urshela, Jorge Alfaro So every power rankings that I've seen so far have Colombia outside of the top 10 and I don't understand why. This is a very solid team in all areas. Colombia qualified for WBC for the first time in their history in 2017. They made sure to make the most of if beating Canada and almost upsetting the powerhouses teams of the United States and the Dominican Republic. Arguably no nation has improved more in the last six years than them producing many MLB players that will be making their debut in this edition of the tournament. 8. Cuba WBC History: 2006 - 2nd, 2009 - 6th, 2013 - 5th, 2017 - 7th 2023 Schedule: 3/8 - @ Netherlands, 3/9 - vs. Italy, 3/10 - @ Panama, 3/11 - Off, 3/12 - vs. Taiwan Notable Absences: A bunch of MLB players who either weren't invited or declined to participate Players to Watch: Luis Robert, Raidel Martinez, Livan Moinelo, Alfredo Despaigne It has been quite a fall for the nation that was almost unbeatable during the 90's and 00's. There WBC record has been trending down and during they failed to qualify for the 2020 Olympics marking the first time that Cuba has ever failed to medal, let alone qualify for the Olympics. This decline can be widely attributed to the fact that most of their talent defected from the country in order to pursue an MLB career. This has lead to the Cuban federation approving the participation of US based players for the first time ever in their history. A total of 6 MLB affiliated players accepted the invitation highlighted by a pair of Chicago White Sox players. 7. South Korea WBC History: 2006 - 3rd, 2009 - 2nd, 2013 - 9th, 2017 - 10th 2023 Schedule: 3/9 - vs. Australia, 3/10 - @ Japan, 3/11 - Off, 3/12 - vs. Czech Republic, 3/13 - @ China Notable Absences: Choi Ji-man, An Woo-jin, Ryu Hyun-jin Players to Watch: Tommy Edman, Kim Ha-seong, Lee Jung-hoo, Go Woo-suk, Kang Baek-ho Speaking of countries on the decline, South Korea is another. After medaling at the first two editions of the tournament, they failed to advance past the opening round in the last two editions including the 2017 one where they were on home soil. During Tokyo 2020, they were playing in the bronze medal game against the Dominican Republic when they lost the lead late in the game and ultimately lost. 13 players return from that 2020 team seeking redemption along with a couple MLB stars including an American-Korean. Edit: After the news today about Quintana's injury, I might move Colombia down a tier.

Gold for Swings

and Stolz just destroyed the field!

Krol takes the lead, Kersten still in 2nd

Topicmaster1010's 2023 WBC Power Rankings: Part 2 This part was by far the hardest to rank. All 6 teams are really close to each other in my opinion. Each writeup is a bit long so I put the deeper analysis parts in spoilers. Tier 4: Can Advance to the 2nd Round, Can't Win it All 15. Panama WBC History: 2006 - 14th, 2009 - 15th 2023 Schedule: 3/8 - @ Taiwan, 3/9 - @ Netherlands, 3/10 - vs. Cuba, 3/11 - @ Italy, 3/12 - Off Notable Absences: Edmundo Sosa, Johan Camargo, Ivan Herrera, Daniel Espino Players to Watch: Christian Bethancourt, Jaime Barria, Jose Ramos, Javy Guerra If there is one non-automatic qualifier that has a shot to advance to the quarterfinals, it would be Panama. The Central American country is returning to the big stage for the first time since 2009. Even though they haven't had any success in past tournaments, there's reason for optimism this time around. The country has produced one of the greatest pitchers of all time in Mariano Rivera and now the generation that watched him growing gets to take center stage here. 14. Israel WBC History: 2017 - 6th 2023 Schedule: 3/11 - Off, 3/12 - vs. Nicaragua, 3/13 - @ Puerto Rico, 3/14 - @ Dominican Republic, 3/15 - vs. Venezuela Notable Absences: Jake Bird, Harrison Bader, Kevin Pillar, Alex Bregman Players to Watch: Joc Pederson, Matt Mervis, Dean Kremer, Richard Bleier This might be a controversial ranking. Israel was the Cinderella for during the 2017 WBC. With no expectations set on them, they won their pool and beat Cuba in the 2nd round before losing to eventual semifinalists, Japan and the Netherlands. As you can see by this ranking, I do not expect another Cinderella story this time around. 13. Taiwan WBC History: 2006 - 12th, 2009 - 14th, 2013 - 8th, 2017 - 14th 2023 Schedule: 3/8 - vs. Panama, 3/9 - Off, 3/10 - vs. Italy, 3/11 - vs. Netherlands, 3/12 - @ Cuba Notable Absences: Chang Yi, Tseng Jen-Ho Players to Watch: Yu Chang, Sung Chia-Hao, Lin Li, Giljegiljaw Kungkuan The 2017 WBC was a tournament to forget for Taiwan. Problems in their baseball federation forced one of their local club teams to boycott the tournament and left them without many of their top players. As a result, they went winless in 3 games. There is reason for more optimism this time. They have assembled arguably the most balanced team in their history and they are coming off a series of exhibition games in which they went 8-0. 12. Kingdom of the Netherlands WBC History: 2006 - 11th, 2009 - 7th, 2013 - 4th, 2017 - 4th 2023 Schedule: 3/8 - vs. Cuba, 3/9 - vs. Panama, 3/10 - Off, 3/11 - @ Taiwan, 3/12 - @ Italy Notable Absences: Ozzie Albies, Ceddane Rafaela, Sem Robberse Players to Watch: Xander Bogaerts, Jurickson Profar, Wladimir Balentien And this is probably going to be my most controversial ranking. If you've been watching the last two editions, you're probably wondering how I could put a team that's made back to back semifinals this low in the power rankings. There's a few reasons: 1. A very weak pitching group, 2. An aging offense, 3. Poor results in exhibition games against Korean teams (that included their MLB players). 11. Italy WBC History: 2006 - 10th, 2009 - 10th, 2013 - 7th, 2017 - 12th 2023 Schedule: 3/8 - Off, 3/9 - @ Cuba, 3/10 - @ Taiwan, 3/11 - vs. Panama, 3/12 - vs. Netherlands Notable Absences: Brandon Nimmo, Trey Mancini, Jordan Romano, other Americans of Italian ancestry Players to Watch: Vinnie Pasquantino, Sal Frelick, David Fletcher, Andre Pallante, Matt Harvey For the first time since the tournament's inception, Italy will be heading to Asian soil to play their pool. Many people wondered whether or not that would less commitments and a weaker team than usual but despite a few notable absences, they will still field a very good team and be expected to be compete for a spot in the quarterfinals. 10. Canada WBC History: 2006 - 9th, 2009 - 13th, 2013 - 12th, 2017 - 15th 2023 Schedule: 3/11 - Off, 3/12 - vs. Great Britain, 3/13 - @ United States, 3/14 - @ Colombia, 3/12 - vs. Mexico Notable Absences: Joey Votto, Josh Naylor, Jameson Taillon, James Paxton, Rowan Wick, Charles Leblanc, Zach Pop, Nick Pivetta Players to Watch: Freddie Freeman, Cal Quantrill, Bo Naylor, Edouard Julien, Tyler O'Neill Am I biased and ranking Canada too high here? Possibly. However, I believe their depth is roughly equal as the teams below them and they have the better top end talent. 2017 was a tournament to forget for Canada. Many players were not able to participate and as a result, they were forced to call many players out of retirement to play major roles on the team including a 39 year-old Ryan Dempster (who was asked to make two starts) and a 41 year old Eric Gagne. This time, while they still have a lot of players not playing, the depth has improved this year with many great players and exciting young players to watch.

[hide] Event & Date Athletes Gold Silver Bronze Women's 3000m Day 1 March 2nd 2023 Ivanie Blondin Valerie Maltais Isabelle Weidemann Any Chinese Athlete Martina Sablikova Ayano Sato Nadezhda Morozova Joy Beune x Antoinette Rijpma-De Jong Irene Schouten x Ragne Wiklund x Magdalena Czyszczon Any Other Athlete Men's 5000m Day 1 March 2nd 2023 Bart Swings Graeme Fish Davide Ghiotto x Andrea Giovannini Ryosuke Tsuchiya Any Japanese Athlete Sander Eitrem x Sigurd Henriksen Any Other Norwgian Athlete Jorrit Bergsma Marcel Bosker Patrick Roest x Any American Athlete Any Other Athlete Women's Team Sprint Day 1 March 2nd 2023 Canada x China Germany Japan Kazakhstan Netherlands x Poland United States x Any Other Nation Men's Team Sprint Day 1 March 2nd 2023 Canada x China Germany Kazakhstan Netherlands x Norway x Poland United States Any Other Nation Women's Team Pursuit Day 2 March 3rd 2023 Canada x China Germany Japan x Netherlands x Poland Switzerland United States Any Other Nation Men's Team Pursuit Day 2 March 3rd 2023 Canada Denmark Italy Japan Netherlands x Norway x South Korea United States x Any Other Nation Men's 500m Day 2 March 3rd 2023 Laurent Dubreuil x Christopher Fiola David Bosa Takuya Morimoto Wataru Morishige Yuma Murakami x Dal Dal N'tab Hein Otterspeer Merijin Scheperkamp Any Polish Athlete Jun-ho Kim Jordan Stolz x Any Other Athlete Women's 500m Day 2 March 3rd 2023 Vanessa Herzog x Any Canadian Athlete Any Chinese Athlete Kurumi Inagawa Konami Soga Miho Takagi Yekaterina Aydova Michelle de Jong Femke Kok Jutta Leerdam x Min-sun Kim x Kimi Goetz Erin Jackson Any Other Athlete Men's 1000m Day 3 March 4th 2023 Laurent Dubreuil x Antoine Gelinas-Beaulieu Zhongyan Ning Marten Liiv David Bosa Ryota Kojima Kazuya Yamada Masaya Yamada Thomas Krol Kjeld Nuis Hein Otterspeer x Haavard Holmefjord Lorentzen Damian Zurek Jordan Stolz x Any Other Athlete Women's 1000m Day 3 March 4th 2023 Vanessa Herzog Ivanie Blondin Qishi Li Ellia Smeding Miho Takagi x Yekaterina Aydova Michelle de Jong Jutta Leerdam x Antoinette Rijpma-De Jong Karolina Bosiek Min-sun Kim Brittany Bowe Kimi Goetz x Erin Jackson Any Other Athlete Men's Mass Start Day 3 March 4th 2023 Gabriel Odor Bart Swings x Connor Howe Hayden Mayeur Any Danish Athlete Felix Maly Felix Rijhnen Andrea Giovannini x Peter Michael Jorrit Bergsma Harm Visser Jae Won Chung Seung-hoon Lee Livio Wenger Ethan Cepuran Any Other Athlete x Women's Mass Start Day 3 March 4th 2023 Sandrine Tas Ivanie Blondin x Valerie Maltais Binyu Yang Michelle Uhrig Laura Peveri Momoka Horkawa Sumire Kikuchi Marijke Groenewoud x Irene Schouten x Any Polish Athlete Ji-woo Park Any Swiss Athlete Mia Kilburg Any Other Athlete Men's 1500m Day 4 March 5th 2023 Bart Swings Connor Howe Tyson Langelaar Zhongyan Ning x Taiyo Nonomura Kazuya Yamada Masaya Yamada Thomas Krol Kjeld Nuis x Patrick Roest Allan Dahl Johansson Sander Eitrem Any Other Norwegian Athlete Jordan Stolz x Any Other Athlete Women's 1500m Day 4 March 5th 2023 Ivanie Blondin Beatrice Lamarche Mei Han Qishi Li Ayano Sato Miho Takagi x Yekaterina Aydova Nadezhda Morozova x Marijke Groenewoud Jutta Leerdam Antoinette Rijpma-De Jong Ragne Wiklund x Brittany Bowe Kimi Goetz Any Other Nation Men's 10000m Day 4 March 5th 2023 Bart Swings Ted-Jan Bloemen Graeme Fish Davide Ghiotto x Seitaro Ichinohe Ryosuke Tsuchiya Jorrit Bergsma Patrick Roest x Sander Eitrem x Sigurd Henriksen Casey Dawson Any Other Athlete Women's 5000m Day 4 March 5th 2023 Ivanie Blondin Isabelle Weidemann x Martina Sablikova Ayano Sato Miho Takagi Nadezhda Morozova Ragne Wiklund x Marijke Groenewoud Sanne in 't Hof Irene Schouten x Ragne Wiklund Magdalena Czyszczon Any Other Athlete [/hide]

No way!!!! I was hoping that one of our girls could bring home a medal here but I never expected this. This is incredible! Really hope this helps bring in some more funding

Topicmaster1010's 2023 WBC Power Rankings: Part 1 With one week to go, I thought now would be a good time to rank and do a mini-preview for each team in the WBC especially for those of you how aren't too familiar with baseball. Tier 5: The Teams that are just happy to be here 20. China WBC History: 2006 - 15th, 2009 - 11th, 2013 - 13th, 2017 - 16th 2023 Schedule: 3/9 - @ Japan, 3/10 - vs. Czech Republic, 3/11 - @ Australia, 3/12 - Off, 3/13 - vs. South Korea Notable Absences: I literally have no idea Players to Watch: I literally have no idea. Alan Carter I guess? The fact of the matter is that nobody knows anything the Chinese team or any of its players. It's national league hasn't been active since 2019 because of COVID and they recently lost 16-0 to a Japanese amateur team. I honestly don't even know how they've managed to qualify to every single WBC so far. They do however, have a few heritage players that could be interesting including current LA Angels minor league player Alan Carter and former NPB players Yusuke Masago. 19. Czech Republic WBC History: Debut 2023 Schedule: 3/9 - Off, 3/10 - @ China, 3/11 - @ Japan, 3/12 - @ South Korea, 3/13 - vs. Australia Notable Absences: No idea Players to Watch: Marek Chlup, Martin Schneider, Martin Cervenka You got to give credit to the Czechs. Unlike other European nations, they are fielding a team of homegrown players (with the exception of 2) and beat a tough Spanish team with those players to qualify for this tournament. Most of those players currently play in the Czech Extraliga where a lot of them work separate part time jobs to go along with playing baseball. Unfortunately, this results in them having a weaker team than most teams in this tournament. They do have many exciting players to watch though. Marek Chlup has been lighting it up in the NCAA so far and made a game saving throw in the qualifiers to help the Czechs win. Martin Schneider is one of two players who can both hit and throw well. You can expect him to be there best pitcher for this tournament. Martin Cervenka is probably the most notable Czech player of all time being the only player to play in the minor leagues and Boris Vecerka recently signed a contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball. 18. Great Britain WBC History: Debut 2023 Schedule: 3/11 - @ United States, 3/12 - @ Canada, 3/13 - vs. Colombia, 3/14 - @ Mexico, 3/15 - Off Notable Absences: Jazz Chisholm, Ian Lewis, Players to Watch: Harry Ford, Trayce Thompson This will be one of the more interesting teams to watch in the tournament. They consist of mostly American and Bahamian players who have British ancestors and play all over the world including the MLB, Mexico, Taiwan and independent leagues in the US. Ultimately this team only has a handful of good players lacking depth at every position, especially on the pitching side. Harry Ford will be the most exciting player to watch for the Brits. The Seattle Mariners prospect is currently the 49th ranked prospect in the MLB. Trayce Thompson (brother of Klay Thompson for any basketball fans reading this) is their most experienced hitter and he had a great season last year with the LA Dodgers. Both Thompson and Ford will be expected to be the focal point of the offense. Lucius Fox is also another young player to watch out for. 17. Australia WBC History: 2006 - 13th, 2009 - 12th, 2013 - 16th, 2017 - 9th 2023 Schedule: 3/9 - @ South Korea, 3/10 - Off, 3/11 - vs. China, 3/12 - vs. Japan, 3/13 - @ Czech Republic Notable Absences: Liam Hendriks, Curtis Mead Players to Watch: Aaron Whitefield, Tim Atherton I was heavily debating whether or not to put Great Britain or Australia ahead of the other but ultimately, even though Great Britain has the best player between the two, Australia has the better depth and they are in an easier pool. However, they will be without their best pitcher in Liam Hendriks (undergoing cancer treatment) and their best hitter in Curtis Mead (shoulder injury I believe). Their current roster all come from the Australian Baseball League and minor league baseball. Aaron Whitefield is the one player who had MLB experience but he didn't do well when he played there. He will still be expected to be a key part of their offense though. 16. Nicaragua WBC History: Debut 2023 Schedule: 3/11 - @ Puerto Rico, 3/12 - @ Israel, 3/13 - vs. Domincan Republic, 3/14 - @ Venezuela, 3/15 - Off Notable Absences: Mark Vientos Players to Watch: Jonathan Loaisiga, Erasmo Ramirez, Carlos Rodriguez, Dwight Britton, Alex Blandino, Cheslor Cuthbert On paper, Nicaragua's team isn't that terrible especially compared to the 4 teams below them in these rankings. The problem is that they are in the Pool of Death with 4 other really good teams and most people has them at least a tier below the other 4 teams in the pool. Their strength is on the pitching side. Jonathan Loaisiga is currently the best Nicaraguan baseball player and when healthy, is one of the better relief pitchers in baseball. Expect him to be used for 9th innings. Erasmo Ramirez is also a very good relief pitcher and Carlos Rodriguez is one of the top prospects in the Milwaukee Brewers system. On offense, they will be lead by the likes of former major leaguer Cheslor Cuthbert and Dwight Britton, who had a great qualifying tournament. Alex Blandino, an American of Nicaraguan heritage will also play a big part in the team. Unfortunately another Nicaraguan American, Mark Vientos, was unable to play in this tournament and also would have been a big part of the offense.

Sorry boys, I completely disagree. I was initially against the idea but after hearing the rules and seeing it for the first time, I'm a big fan of it. I have no issues with 3+hour games when there is a lot of action but when an hour of that time is taken up by batters constantly walking out of the box and pitchers grabbing at their crotch and licking their fingers between pitches, then there's a problem. We don't need to see pitchers take 5 minutes to throw a pitch The MLB has already tried to implement pace of play rules which worked initially but doesn't now. This, this is the result we get. It was proved to be very effective in the minor leagues and game times were shortened by an hour with a shortened percentage of dead time. There was also a period of adjustment but there were slowly less violations over time. Same thing will happen in the MLB. This is what's going to help attract more people to watch. And now I presume I'll be getting a ban from this forum for having a more urban opinion

Respect to all of you that are watching light into the night! My prediction is that a Kelce brother will win the Superbowl

Designated Pitcher Pools (aka Available Pitcher Substitutes. Can substitute 2 players on roster for two pitchers on pool after advancing to a further round) Australia Matthew Beattie, Timothy Kennelly, Christopher Oxspring, Joshua Tols, Coen Wynne Colombia Luis de Avila, Santiago Florez, Tayron Guerrero, Jeffry Nino, Carlos Ocampo, Julio Teheran, Ezequiel Zabaleta Dominican Republic Ronel Blanco, Genesis Cabrera, Enyel de los Santos, Carlos Estevez, Joel Payamps, Cesar Valdez Great Britain Malik Binns, Richard Brereton, Jacob Esch, Gunnar Groen, Branden Noriega, Jack Seppings, Matteo Sollecito Israel Jake Kalish, Alex Katz, Adam Kolarek, Shlomo Lipetz, Jake Miednik, Italy Vincenzo Aiello, Glenn Albanese, Alex Bassani, Matteo Bocchi, Tiago da Silva, Alessandro Ercolani, Brian Marconi, Jeffrey Passantino Mexico Manuel Barreda, Victor Castaneda, Felipe Gonzalez, Oliver Perez, Roel Ramirez, Alan Rangel, Netherlands Dennis Burgersdijk, Jiorgeny Casimiri, Aaron de Groot, Dylan Farley, Arij Fransen, Kenley Jansen, Jair Jurrjens, Scott Prins Panama Paolo Espino, Carlos Luna (3 of the following names below. Couldn't find the full list anywhere). Harold Arauz, Randall Delgado, Steven Fuentes, Severino Gonzalez, Alberto Guerrero, Humberto Mejia, Andy Otero, Davis Romero Puerto Rico Jonathan Bermudez, Alex Claudio, Jose Espada, Luis Quinones United States Nick Martinez Venezuela Endrys Briceno, Max Castillo, Enmanuel de Jesus, Jhonathan Diaz, Edwin Escobar, Norwith Gudino, Jesus Luzardo,

TEAM PANAMA Manager: Luis Ortiz Pitchers: Harold Arauz (Federales de Chiriquí, Probeis, ) Alberto Baldonado (Rochester Red Wings - WAS AAA, IL, ) Jaime Barría (Los Angeles Angels, MLB, ) Miguel Cienfuegos (San Antonio Missions - SD AA, TL, ) Randall Delgado (Aguilas Cibaenas, LIDOM, ) Steven Fuentes (Federales de Chiriquí, Probeis, ) James Gonzalez (Stockton Ports - OAK A, CAL, ) Severino Gonzalez (Federales de Chiriquí, Probeis, ) Javy Guerra (Milwaukee Brewers, MLB, ) Alberto Guerrero (Tomateros de Culiacan, LMP, ) Matt Hardy (Nashville Sounds - MIL AAA, IL, ) Justin Lawrence (Colorado Rockies, MLB, ) Humberto Mejia (Toros de Tijuana, LMB, ) Andy Otero (Estrellas Orientales, LIDOM, ) Wilfredo Pereira (Peoria Chiefs - STL A+, ML, ) Davis Romero (Federales de Chiriquí, Probeis, ) Catchers: Christian Bethancourt (Tampa Bay Rays, MLB, ) Erasmo Caballero (Federales de Chiriquí, Probeis, ) Iván Herrera (St. Louis Cardinals, MLB, ) Infielders: Jonathan Araúz (New York Mets, MLB, ) Jose Caballero (Seattle Mariners, MLB, ) Gerald Chin (Aguilas Metropolitanas, Probeis, ) Allen Córdoba (Algodoneros de Union Laguna, LMB, ) Ruben Tejada (Long Island Ducks, ALPB, ) Joshwan Wright (Lansing Lugnuts - OAK A+, ML, ) Outfielders: Luis Castillo (Atlanticos, Probeis, ) L.J. Jones (Peoria Chiefs - STL A+, ML, ) Edgar Munoz (Atlanticos, Probeis, ) Rodrigo Orozco (Federales de Chiriquí, Probeis, ) Jose Ramos (Great Lake Loons - LAD A+, ML, ) Carlos Sanchez (Atlanticos, Probeis, ) Jahdiel Santamaria (Federales de Chiriquí, Probeis, ) Jhonny Santos (Federales de Chiriquí, Probeis, )

TEAM AUSTRALIA Manager: David Nilsson Pitchers: Tim Atherton (Brisbane Bandits, ABL, ) Liam Doolan (ACL Dodgers - LAD ROK, ACL, ) Kyle Glogoski (Louisville Bats - CIN AAA, IL, ) Josh Guyer (Sydney Blue Sox, ABL, ) Sam Holland (Brisbane Bandits, ABL, ) Jon Kennedy (Melbourne Aces, ABL, ) Steven Kent (Melbourne Aces, ABL, ) Daniel McGrath (Melbourne Aces, ABL, ) Mitch Neunborn (Adelaide Giants, ABL, ) Jack O'Loughlin (West Michigan Whitecaps - DET A+, ML, ) Warwick Saupold (Perth Heat, ABL, ) Will Sherriff (Perth Heat, ABL, ) Blake Townsend (Modesto Nuts - SEA A, CAL, ) Todd van Steensel (Adelaide Giants, ABL, ) Luke Wilkins (Adelaide Giants, ABL, ) Catchers: Ryan Battaglia (Brisbane Bandits, ABL, ) Jake Bowey (Perth Heat, ABL, ) Alex Hall (Carolina Mudcats - MIL A, CL, ) Robbie Perkins (Canberra Cavalry, ABL, ) Infielders: Andrew Campbell (Brisbane Bandits, ABL, ) Jarryd Dale (El Paso Chihuahuas - SD AAA, PCL, ) Darryl George (Melbourne Aces, ABL, ) Robbie Glendinning (Northwest Arkansas Naturals - KC AA, TL, ) Liam Spence (Myrtle Beach Pelicans - CHC A, CL, ) Logan Wade (Brisbane Bandits, ABL, ) Rixon Wingrove (Jersey Shore BlueClaws - PHI A+, SAL, ) Outfielders: Ulrich Bojarski (Perth Heat, ABL, ) Tim Kennelly (Perth Heat, ABL, ) Jordan McArdle (Adelaide Giants, ABL, ) Aaron Whitefield (Los Angeles Angels, MLB, )