Overview:
Location: Miami Florida, USA
Teams: Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, Israel
Venue: Loan Depot Park (home of the Miami Marlins)
Initial Thoughts:
Welcome to the group of death! Never in the history of the World Baseball Classic has so much firepower been packed into one group. There are three past semi-finalists in this group and two teams which have played in a grand final. There are multiple MVPs, all-stars and future Hall of Famers sprinkled across the star-studded rosters that make up this pool. It really is the stuff of Dreams. Loan Depot Park will dress itself up as the Field Of Dreams over the coming weeks. It will be fun.
It's win or bust for a Dominican squad that may as well be an all-star team. There is no respite for opposing pitchers and to make matters worse for the competition, the overall favorites have the pitching to keep opponents off the scoreboard. Venezuela also brings an assortment of superstars led by the Little Engine That Could. They will look to erase a history of underachieving at this tournament in 2023. Puerto Rico has made back-to-back finals and will look to make it a third. They bring a star-studded and well balanced roster of their own to bear. The group is made even tougher by the Cinderella team of 2017, Israel that rattled off four wins that year including two major upsets. This is a strong roster capable of pulling upsets and used to relishing the role of underdog. Debutants Nicaragua should not be counted out either as they bring a long history of international success and some major league talent of their own. They will look to kill some giants in Miami.
Dominican Republic:
What country’s roster contains the most exciting young player in baseball, multiple potential MVPs and former MVPs, Cy Young award winners, World Series champions and has multi-time All-Stars likely riding the bench? Answer: Dominican Republic! This may be the most loaded WBC squad ever assembled. The rotation is led by 2022 NL Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara and seconded by a likely future Cy Young winner (or at least finalist) in Christian Javier. Former all-star and Cy Young candidate Johnny Cueto is in too. And the bullpen is extremely deep, maybe even more so than the US. Astros fireballers Rafael Montero, Bryan Abreu and Hector Neris who were all instrumental in winning a World Series for Houston are present. Giants closer Camilo Doval is also on the squad with Gregory Soto, Carlos Estevez, Jose Leclerc, Yimi Garcia et al adding even more depth which is critical given WBC rules on pitch limits. And what else can we say of this lineup. Vlad Guerrero Jr, Julio Rodriguez, Juan Soto, Rafael Devers, Manny Machado, Wander Franco, Willy Adames, World Series MVP Jeremy Pena, …, shall I go on? Some of these all-stars will ride pine on this team. You could easily have a Dominicana B in this tournament and it would be a formidable force in this tournament also.
All this marveling at their roster aside, I must caution against crowning them too early. Team Platano Power won it all in 2013 but the Domicans did crash out ignominiously in round one in 2009 and failed to reach the semis in 2017 with star-studded squads. And they are in the group of death. That said, the Dominican track record speaks for itself. Aside from the United States, no country produces more major league ballplayers and it’s not close. The Hall of Fame will likely feature tens of more Dominicans in the coming decades and all-star teams are full of them every year. There is a reason for that. Yes, there is only the Olympic bronze from Tokyo to add to the 2013 WBC title but that is deceptive. The Dominicans are clear favorites to win the group and to win the entire thing, with second in Pool C being something of a death sentence on paper but baseball being what it is, we cannot simply assume things. The group of death is the group of death and at least one of the big three in this group is going out early so there really is no room for error, even for what seems to be the strongest team ever assembled for a WBC.
Venezuela:
The second heavyweight in this group with a rich baseball tradition is Venezuela. Like their Caribbean rivals, the Venezuelans bring a lineup full of MLB stars and some future hall of famers. Just the infield is a litany of studs that reads like the starting lineup of an All-Star game. Luis Arraez, the reigning AL batting champion, Jose Altuve, a legend, Andres Gimenez, a revelation in 2022, Eugenio Suarez who is a former forty homer man etc. Oh, and there’s still Gleyber Torres, Eduardo Escobar, Luis Rengifo and Miguel Rojas. Fun! The outfield is pretty good too, anchored by the feared Ronald Acuna Jr. Salvador Perez is the starting catcher too. Miggy will also become one of the few to play all five WBC tournaments. The pitching is good too if a shade weaker than the Dominicans. Still, a rotation of Martin Perez, Luis Garcia, Pablo Lopez and likely Ranger Suarez plays with Eduardo Rodriguez and Jesus Luzardo also in tow. Fireballer Jose Alvarado also stands ready to close out games. This team has the talent and depth to make noise.
For all their superstars over the years, Venezuela has largely earned a reputation for underachieving at the World Baseball Classic. A semi-final berth in 2009 remains their best showing and they have failed to make it out of round two in any other WBC, including a first round exit in 2013. Olympic success has also eluded them though they do have several accolades at continental level. That said, this is a country that consistently churns out players of the highest quality. We all know about the long line of great Venezuelan shortstops and we know of more current legends such as Miguel Cabrera and Felix Hernandez. This is a baseball nation with more major league star power than ever and a large diaspora in Miami that will be cheering them on. Expectations are high. Anything less than semi-finals would be rather disappointing. A group stage exit would be disastrous but in the group of death, sadly a real possibility given that only two can move on.
Puerto Rico:
Another team of still more superstars, Puerto Rico comes in looking for the final jewel in the crown. Even being down Carlos Correa, the infield is of the highest quality with a double play combination of Javy Baez and Francisco Lindor. Jose Miranda and the ultra versatile Enrique Hernandez add more quality still and 2021 playoff hero Eddie Rosario is also in tow. Christian Vazquez and M.J. Melendez provide two MLB quality catchers along with game caller extraordinaire Martin Maldonado. Melendez will likely start elsewhere though given his versatility and power. After having kept Puerto Rico away from the Promised Land in 2017, Marcus Stroman has crossed the floor to lead a Puerto Rico rotation that also boasts a Jose Berrios in search of redemption in 2023 and Mets prospect Dominic Hamel. The bullpen is very strong too and is anchored by Edwin Diaz as one might expect with Jorge Lopez and Emilio Pagan there also to add more backend depth.
Puerto Rico is perhaps the best team to not yet win a WBC title. They have made it to the final twice in a row now and have never fallen in round one or had a losing record or a negative run differential in the tournament. The beating heart of those teams is the dugout boss now. Yadier Molina will manage this latest collection of stars. Puerto Rico also boasts Olympic bronze from 1988 in Seoul and is the home of past legends such as Roberto Clemente and Ivan Rodriguez. Anybody who has watched Major League Baseball has seen a Puerto Rican star in action at some point. Puerto Rico will look to go all the way this time and they have a team capable of doing so. Unfortunately, they are also in the most unforgiving group ever drawn at a WBC and so the possibility is very real that they may go out early as well. That said, this group is a real threat come the knockout stages if they get back there again.
Nicaragua:
The debutants from central America are in for a baptism of fire having been drawn into this group. They are no slouches though. There is talent on this squad including some solid prospects and some ML veterans. Yankee reliever Jonathan Loaisiga is the man if they have a lead late in a game. Erasmo Ramirez also boasts MLB experience in that bullpen and CPBL vet J.C. Ramirez is also on the squad and will likely start a game in this tourney. 2015 World Series Cheslor Cuthbert will feature prominently along with younger stars from qualifying Benjamin Alegria and Melvin Noboa. American born Giant infielder Alex Blandino is also in for the Central Americans.
Nicaragua are making their debut after failing to qualify for 2013 and 2017. They struggled early in qualifying but eventually turned it out when it mattered most to beat out Brazil. They boast five silver medals and five bronzes in what was once the Baseball World Cup (now Premier 12) and they did finish a solid fourth at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. This is also the home country of Expos legend Dennis Martinez and is also home to several former and current big leaguers. Qualification from this group will be a tough feat to pull off but baseball is baseball. Really, in this group, even one win would be a highly creditable accomplishment and it is nice to see this nation with a long, proud baseball history finally make it to the game’s premier international tournament.
Israel:
From being disparaged as the “Jamaican bobsled team” of baseball to becoming the Cinderella team of the tournament, Team Israel knows a thing or two about beating the odds. It is fitting then, that they too should find themselves in the group of death. This is on paper a stronger Team Israel than that was but this group is also stronger. Joc Pederson missed out on 2017 but he leads this edition of the Magen David into Miami. He is flanked by several interesting pieces. Hot Cubs power prospect Matt Mervis is in tow along with MLB vet Alex Dickerson. Zac Gelof is also a key prospect in the Oakland organization and promises to be a revelation in this tournament. There are also quite a few holdovers from 2017 including former Met Ty Kelly and 2013 World Series winner Ryan Lavarnway who became the first player holding Israeli citizenship to play MLB baseball when he made it back to the bigs in 2021. (he had taken up Israeli citizenship ahead of the Olympics) Another Olympic vet and former major leaguer is Danny Valencia, a former Blue Jay. The rotation will be led by Orioles starter Dean Kremer who became the first player with Israeli citizenship picked in the MLB draft. The KBO’s Robert Stock is also lined up. Prospects Josh Wolf and Jacob Steinmetz are in too along with several solid relievers. Richard Bleier, as well as Olympic vets Jake Fishman and Zach Weiss will feature on this team. In case you’re wondering, the iconic Shlomo Lipetz is back too. Olympian and World Series winner from 2018 Ian Kinsler will manage this squad flanked by Brad Ausmus, Kevin Youkllis, Olympic muscleman Blake Gailen and 2017 Team Israel hero and Team Of The Tournament laureate Josh Zeid.
Team Israel first attempted to qualify for the 2013 WBC, narrowly losing out to Spain. They did make the 2017 edition and were expected to be easy first round fodder for the likes of Korea, Taiwan and the Netherlands. Instead, they upset Korea 2-1 in their own building in a ten inning nail-biter, blasted Taiwan 15-7 and beat the mighty Dutch 4-2 with Lavarnway benign named Pool A MVP. Another upset over Cuba followed before the clock struck midnight, losing to the Netherlands and Japan to bow out with a 4-2 record and a 6th place finish overall. An improbable journey to the Olympics followed which ended in a heartbreaking loss to the Dominican Republic but also featured a historic win over Mexico. Israel followed it up by winning silver at the 2021 Euros for their first ever medal and only narrowly losing out to the Dutch for gold. This is a team used to defying the odds and with a history of giving stiff competition to tough teams. They will need at least one, probably two upsets to progress from this group but history has taught us not to discount this team. “Here for a good time, not a long time” was the remark this time. We all know what idle words set off in 2017. Who knows where the fuel of being underestimated will take Team Israel this time. David readies his sling and looks in towards home plate.
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