The 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC), which will be held in March, was initially chosen by the United States and the Dominican Republic as the strongest candidates. Both teams had luxurious members, such as showing off their powerful batting line. He also showed a strong will to win by starting preparations for the tournament early.
In fact, looking at the WBC winning dividends of North American odds makers, the United States has always been in first place, and the Dominican Republic has been in second place, slightly behind. Japan followed suit, but there was a considerable gap with the first and second places. But odds makers are starting to get busy. It’s because of the power leaks in the US.
In the first place, the U.S. was evaluated as having a relatively low mound power compared to the splendid fielding team. This is because top pitchers representing the league, such as Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer (New York Mets), Jacob deGrom (Texas), and Corbin Burns (Milwaukee), did not show much interest in participating in this tournament. Here, with the tournament right around the corner, the power loss was added.
With Nestor Cortes Jr. (New York Yankees) missing due to injury, on the 18th (Korean time), even Clayton Kershaw (LA Dodgers), who was chosen as the national mound’s ace and mental support, gave up the game. Kershaw did not reveal the specific reason, but local media are strongly citing insurance issues.
The WBC has a pitch limit per round. It is a competition that is held before the season, and pitchers cannot throw a lot of balls, and there is a limit on the number of pitches, so it is difficult for the starters to make all the rounds anyway. Still, there must be a starter to lead the team stably until the 4th and 5th innings, but the U.S. was in a difficult situation with the departure of the two players.
In fact, with the departure of Cortés and Kershaw, there are only three starting pitchers with a WHIP of 1.2 or less while throwing more than 150 innings as of last year. Miles Mycholas (St. Louis), Merrill Kelly (Arizona), and Brad Singer (Kansas City) are the main characters. Of course, these are good pitchers, but it is difficult to see them as the ace level representing the league. This is the reason why we can predict the struggles of the United States in the second and final rounds, where the importance of selection is increasing. 메이저사이트
The winning odds of the odds makers were also immediately revised. According to bwin’s tally, Dominica (3.00) rose to first place, and Japan (3.50) narrowly overtook the United States (3.75), reorganizing into a three-power system rather than a two-power system.
The reason Japan is highly regarded is that it has an advantage in the starting lineup, which is a relative weakness of the United States or the Dominican Republic. Senga Kodai (New York Mets) refused to participate in the tournament because of team adaptation, but there are still strong starters. Yu Darvish (San Diego) and Shohei Ohtani (LA Angels) are top pitchers in the major leagues. He has the ability to trust and entrust the big game.
In addition, Yamamoto Yoshinobu (Orix), who is also selected as a one-two punch class in the major leagues, and Sasaki Rocky (Chiba Lotte), one of the hottest pitchers in the Japanese league, are also on standby. It is evaluated that the bullpen team also boasts even skills that match well with the right and left assortment. The point to watch in this tournament is whether Japan will be able to use the strength of its starting lineup to get things done.