World Baseball Festival WBC roster confirmed… Who are the players to watch out for?
The list of players participating in the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC), a festival of world baseball fans and baseball stars, has been released. A total of 600 players from 20 countries represented their countries at the feast of the stars.
On the 10th, the WBC secretariat announced the participating players through the MLB.com homepage, the official major league website. The 20 countries participating in the tournament submitted the final list of 30 players to the WBC Secretariat on the 8th, when the entry deadline was closed. The Korean national team also confirmed the list of players, including the coaching staff, early on.
Like the world’s best baseball tournament, the names of the players are gorgeous. According to the WBC, out of a total of 600 players, there are 332 players, more than half of which belong to American Major League (MLB) clubs. There are 67 MLB All-Stars.
In addition, there are eight players who have won the MVP award in the MLB. MVP winners such as Mike Trout, Mookie Betts, Paul Goldschmidt, Clayton Kershaw (USA), Shohei Ohtani (Japan), Miguel Cabrera, Jose Altuve (Venezuela), and Freddie Freeman (Canada) wear their country’s flag on their chest. go to the competition
MVPs from Korea and Japan will also compete in the WBC. Lee Jung-hoo of the Kiwoom Heroes, who won 5 KBO league batting crowns last season, will step out. Lee Jung-hoo, who is aiming to advance to the United States, is a ‘star’ that the WBC Secretariat is paying attention to.
Reporter John Moroshi, who appeared on the roster announcement live broadcast that day, said, “Lee Jung-hoo is a player who plays similarly to Ichiro. (WBC) explained that it would be a stage to advance one step further, saying, “It is the core of the Korean national team trying to make up for its disappointing performance six years ago.”
Murakami, who hit 56 homers last season and was voted the youngest unanimous MVP in the Central League of the Nippon Professional Baseball, will also play for the WBC. In the Korea-Japan match, Lee Jung-hoo and Lee Jung-hoo face off to see who is the more genius striker.
Foreign players from the Korean professional baseball (KBO) also stand out. There are 9 people in all. The U.S. team has right-handed pitcher Merrill Kelly (Arizona Diamondbacks) and left-handed pitcher Brooks Reilly (New York Mets). Two ‘former KBO leaguers’ were selected. Kelly joined the SK Wyverns (currently SSG Landers) in 2015, and Kelly, who played 48-32 with an average ERA of 3.86 in 119 games over four seasons at SK, left for Arizona in 2019. He played the role of Arizona’s ace in 2022 with a 13-8 loss and 3.37 ERA, and succeeded in getting on the national team. Rayleigh joined Team USA as a left-handed bullpen resource. Rayleigh, who threw as a starter for the Lotte Giants from 2015 to 2019 and posted an ERA of 4.13 with an average of 48 wins and 53 losses, returned to the major leagues in 2020 and played as a bullpen pitcher. 슬롯사이트
Robert Stark (Minor League Milwaukee Brewers) will represent Israel in the WBC. Stark posted a 9-10 ERA of 3.60 last year at the Doosan Bears by throwing a fast ball at a maximum speed of 158 km/h. Stark, who failed to renew his contract with Doosan, signed a minor league contract with Milwaukee, and will be on the mound for Israel in March of this year.
Dutch outfielder Roger Bernardina (Nicaragua Leones) was loved by fans of the KIA Tigers. Bernardina played for KIA for two seasons from 2017 to 2018, posting a batting average of 0.315, 47 homers and 64 stolen bases in 270 games. He was also the main player in the 2017 KIA Unified Championship.
In addition, left-handed pitcher Wang Wei-jung (Taiwan), who played for the NC Dinos in 2018, and left-handed pitcher Andrew Albers (Canada), who wore the Hanwha Eagles uniform in 2014, were also selected for the WBC team.
The WBC, which kicks off with the opening match between Cuba and the Netherlands on March 8, concludes with the final on March 22. Korea, in Group B, competes against Australia, Japan, China and the Czech Republic. Korea is challenging to pass the first round of the finals in 14 years since 2009.