I know it's been 10 days since the World Baseball Classic and the regular season has started, but I promised a WBC wrap-up post once I was done with my season preview. So here it is. It's a little late, but, really, so what? That World Baseball Classic was tremendous and deserves one!
That final between Japan and the United States was a perfect ending to an outstanding tournament. And the script couldn't have been written any better. Shohei Ohtani vs. Mike Trout, arguably the two best players in the world, teammates during the season, facing each other in a one-run game with the championship on the line. It was the final--and the situation--that most fans were rooting for. The fact that we actually got it was just the icing on the cake!
It had been six years since the last World Baseball Classic, but it was well worth the wait. Because the 2023 edition was the best ever! And, frankly, it wasn't even that close! It was a tremendous display of what everything this tournament can and should be. It was everything MLB, the WBSC and the MLBPA envisioned when the World Baseball Classic was created. Most importantly, it showcased the game at its absolute best. It was playoff intensity in March.
There will always be the critics who don't like the WBC for whatever reason, but some of the arguments against it were particularly dumb. I forget who it was who suggested that they still have the World Baseball Classic, but have it without Major League players. That's the entire point of the tournament! Major League players getting a chance to represent their country in an international tournament to determine who's the best in the world...like every other sport has!
Almost as dumb was the suggestion that, instead of having it during Spring Training, they play the World Baseball Classic in the middle of the season. That also completely misses the point! For starters, it would be logistically impossible. A Major League season consists of 162 games in 186 days, which already includes a four-day All*Star Break, so there isn't really time for much else. Let alone a tournament that's played all over the world. And, not to mention, giving the teams time to actually get together before the tournament starts.
And don't get me started on the people whose issues with the WBC are because of injuries. It obviously sucks that Jose Altuve, Edwin Diaz and Adam Wainwright got hurt. But, you know what? Altuve just as easily could've broken his hand getting hit by a pitch in a Spring Training game! Wainwright didn't even get hurt in a game. He got hurt working out in the weight room, which also just as easily could've happened in Cardinals camp. As for Diaz, his was a freak injury that he got celebrating a big Puerto Rico win. Which tells you all you need to know about how much enthusiasm the players have for the event.
More active Major Leaguers participated in this year's WBC than any previous edition. That tells you how important this is to them. That even included Yoan Moncada and Luis Robert Jr. playing for Cuba, the first time Cuba has ever welcomed Major Leaguers back to the national team. Shohei Ohtani wore the uniform of Samurai Japan for the first time since coming over to the Majors. Mike Trout wanted to be a part of Team USA so badly that he committed pretty much as soon as he saw the U.S. win gold without him in 2017. And he's already committed for 2026, as well.
In general, Commissioner Rob Manfred is very pleased with the number of Major League players who took part. Well, for the most part at least. He was happy about the number of hitters who agreed to play, but he'd like to see more starting pitchers make the commitment in 2026. Some countries had no problem getting their top arms on board. The United States, however, was generally met with apathy from big-name starting pitchers, who either didn't want to be throwing high-stress innings so early in the Spring, were worried about injuries and/or didn't want their Spring Training routine disrupted.
Working around the various restrictions placed on the players by each of their 30 Major League employers is another challenge the WBC has to deal with. USA Manager Mark DeRosa admitted that he wasn't able to handle his pitching staff the way he would've wanted to in the Mexico game because of the limitations placed on him by the MLB clubs. That, unfortunately, is a necessary evil. Some MLB teams embrace the WBC more than others, but they're all more concerned with winning a World Series in October, so you get why they'd be cautious. You'd also have to think that there's a happy medium to be found, though.
So, there is still some work to be done. And the top priority on that list is getting commitments from more top American starting pitchers. Everybody else has bought in, though. Francisco Lindor said it best when he talked about the pride that comes with putting on your national team jersey. And that passion carries over into the stands, where the fans of every country came out and turned every game into a party.
We saw some history during the tournament. Japan became the second team to go through the tournament undefeated. Puerto Rico pitched the first-ever WBC combined perfect game. Mexico reached the semifinals for the first time, while Australia and Italy made the quarterfinals. And WBC newcomers Great Britain and the Czech Republic not only won games, they automatically qualified for the 2026 tournament.
Each of the five World Baseball Classics has used a different format, but I think this year they finally found the one that works. The expansion to 20 teams meant groups of five, which gave everybody a minimum of four games. What I loved the most, though, was the addition of a single-elimination quarterfinal round rather than a second round of pool play. They should definitely keep this format moving forward.
Of course, we also had an unprecedented situation in Pool A. All four teams finished with identical 2-2 records. The tiebreaker is a little convoluted, but it resulted in Cuba (which started 0-2) winning the group and Italy also advancing to the quarterfinals, while the Netherlands (which started 2-0) was eliminated along with Panama. Chinese Taipei, meanwhile, will have to requalify after finishing last, despite winning two games.
Chinese Taipei obviously drew the short straw in that situation, but it really says a lot about the state of international baseball that 18 of the 20 teams won at least one game. Only China and Nicaragua went 0-4 (although, Nicaragua actually held its own in a monster pool). Meanwhile, Japan and Venezuela were the only teams to finish pool play 4-0. The Dominican Republic, the pre-tournament favorite, didn't advance to the quarterfinals. Neither did South Korea. And the United States lost to Mexico, which lost to a Colombia team that finished last in the pool (after losing to both Canada and Great Britain) and will also have to requalify.
If I were to suggest any possible improvements for the 2026 World Baseball Classic, it would be to balance the pools a little better. I get why they have all of the Asian teams play in Asia and why they have all of the teams heavy on MLB players play in North America. But that's what led to the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Venezuela--three teams that were capable of winning the whole thing--all ending up in the same pool. Meanwhile, the pools in Taiwan and Japan were significantly weaker by comparison. That's nitpicking, though. And logistically that might be tough. So if they have to keep it the same way in 2026, so be it.
Simply put, the 2023 World Baseball Classic was baseball at its best. It had an October feel in the middle of March, and the quality of play was superb. Best of all, it had a terrific final to cap it off. The World Baseball Classic was created as a way to showcase the game that is beloved by so many around the world. Mission accomplished! Because that's exactly what it was! A show!
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