United States has to win right? We are America after all. Well lets take a deep dive into that. For the world Baseball Classic there are four pools and the top two from each pool move on.
Pool A: Chinese Taipei, Netherlands, Cuba, Italy, and Panama.
So The front runner for this pool should be Cuba. They really should be a lock, even if they blow a game. Now the tricky spot is who will get the second spot. Chinese Taipei could be one of the better teams in the tournament. All of the other teams seem to be on equal level. I think the safe option will be Chinese Taipei, but if you want to spice things up I would take Italy. Cuba and Chinese Taipei advancing here.
Pool B: Japan, Korea, Australia, China, and Czech Republic.
Again the big team here who should be a lock is Japan. I think China is also going to be much better than the rest of the teams here. I could see Australia maybe making a push to get the second seed, but in all reality China should get it. That being said, we are running with the upset. Japan and Australia going one and two.
Pool C: USA, Mexico, Colombia, Canada, and Great Britain.
This in my opinion is a very interesting pool. I think there is three teams that could win this, USA, Mexico, and Canada. I would not be surprised if USA somewhere misses this, but I think the team is just too good. I will put USA in here, and then it comes down between Mexico and Canada. I think Mexico takes the win here. USA and Mexico going first and second.
Pool D: Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Israel, and Nicaragua.
In the final pool, we have a couple of heavy hitters. By all accounts Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic should be coming out of here. Do any of the other teams stand a chance? Venezuela and Israel have several good players but I think Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic are too good. Venezuela advancing could be a big upset this year. We will take the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.
That gives us our 8 finalists and our Quarterfinals Matchups.
Cuba vs Australia
Japan vs Chinese Taipei
Dominican Republic vs Mexico
USA vs Puerto Rico
Cuba vs Australia – If you take a look at the WBSC rankings Cuba is two spots ahead of Australia. These rankings should probably be taken with a grain of salt. But I do believe this will be a hard fought game through and through. Both teams struggle to get going, but eventually Australia takes a lead and rides the momentum to victory. Giving us an early upset.
Japan vs Chinese Taipei – Oh boy. This one will be good. Two of the top ranked teams in the world. This will be a clash of titans. A game that could go down for the ages. Will Ohtani pitch and hit Japan to the next round? No. Chinese Taipei shows up and gets to Ohtani early. They are able to hold on for a 4-3 victory.
Dominican Republic vs Mexico – The Dominican lineup is stacked and that might be an understatement. No matter who Mexico throws out their to pitch, they are going to get lit up. Dominican Republic will walk away from this game with an 8-3 victory.
USA vs Puerto Rico – At one point Puerto Rico was a dominant force in the WBS. During that time USA was not so much. It seems the roles have reversed. Puerto Rico still has a talented roster but USA seems much much better. Having Molina be the manager for team Puerto Rico I think gives them a slight edge. Molina has played with many of team USA players and might have some insight on how to handle them. Although I really want to give the upset to Puerto Rico here, I just think USA will over power them 3-1.
We now get to the semi-finals with the following teams.
USA vs Dominican Republic
Chinese Taipei vs Australia
USA vs Dominican Republic – The matchup everyone wanted to see. This game will go one of two ways, both resulting in the Dominican Republic winning. Both teams could let the nerves get the best of them and this game ends in a messy 3-2. The game people actually want to see is the slugfest. Pitchers getting chased early, electric homers being hit, clutch base hits left and right. That game would be won 9-7 with USA having a chance in the 9th to take the lead but failing to do so.
Chinese Taipei vs Australia – After an electric game with Japan, Chinese Taipei will get off to a slow start. Australia will have a 2-0 lead going into the 5th inning. Chinese Taipei explodes in the 5th taking a 4-2 lead and never looks back. After a few insurance runs Chinese Taipei ends 6-2.
The championship game. The game everyone has anticipated. Dominican Republic vs Chinese Taipei? Most people thought Japan would be here instead but this Chinese Taipei team is very good. But are they good enough to beat a stack Dominican Team? I don’t think so. It may be anti-climatic but Dominican Republic will win this years WBC. The game isn’t as electric as the other games this year, but it is a fun one. Dominican Republic wins this game 6-3. If you were a betting person, Chinese Taipei is very interesting. Keep an eye out, I got mine down. Or who knows, maybe I just am overvaluing them. But anyways, congrats to the Dominican Republic for winning the 2023 WBC.
The Kutty Katt's Thoughts 