WBC 2023

[Orioles4Life21]

3 hours ago, CharmCityHokie said:

I know that Kevin Goldstein, when he was still at FanGraphs, said in a chat that if Yuli Gurriel had come up in the MiLB/MLB system he would have been a no-doubt Hall of Famer, and while he may be biased due to being employed by the Astros at the same time they brought Gurriel on board, he doesn't seem to generally the type for that amount of hyperbole if he doesn't believe it.

Very possible. He has over 2500 hits and 350 homers in his career across all leagues. Keep in mind he was playing in 90 game cuban seasons for a long time 

[spleen1015]

The atmospere at the Chinese Taipei versus Italy game, bot 7, tied at 7, is awesome. Wish we got into the game like this over there.

[Can_of_corn]

6 minutes ago, spleen1015 said:

The atmospere at the Chinese Taipei versus Italy game, bot 7, tied at 7, is awesome. Wish we got into the game like this over there.

41.9% of Japanese people watched the game between Japan and China.

 

[Number5]

45 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

41.9% of Japanese people watched the game between Japan and China.

 

What?  Wow!  That might be close to the percentage that watched the moon landing.

[Orioles4Life21]

I dream of a day when international baseball means that much to fans in our country 

[Just Regular]

10 minutes ago, Orioles4Life21 said:

I dream of a day when international baseball means that much to fans in our country 

Adam Wainwright leading the charge against Great Britain not the perfect cup of tea?

For Grayson Rodriguez's sake, let's hope America's best pitchers don't get too fired up until after 2026 or 2029.

[Orioles4Life21]

7 minutes ago, Just Regular said:

Adam Wainwright leading the charge against Great Britain not the perfect cup of tea?

For Grayson Rodriguez's sake, let's hope America's best pitchers don't get too fired up until after 2026 or 2029.

I hope Grayson gets the chance to play for his country if he so chooses. He’s just as likely to get hurt in spring training as he is in the WBC. 
 

I know pitchers get babied more than any other athlete, but I wonder if fans of Messi’s club team wish he would just sit out the World Cup. Would that team dare encourage him not to play for Argentina? 

[Just Regular]

42 minutes ago, Orioles4Life21 said:

I hope Grayson gets the chance to play for his country if he so chooses. He’s just as likely to get hurt in spring training as he is in the WBC. 
 

I know pitchers get babied more than any other athlete, but I wonder if fans of Messi’s club team wish he would just sit out the World Cup. Would that team dare encourage him not to play for Argentina? 

I agree.    As starved Orioles fans for such a long time, we get angsty about a 4th/5th starter doing his 60-pitch milestone away from Holt.

@Can_of_corn- was just joking about America's maybe 100th best pitcher starting Game 1, and the hope that 3 and 6 years out Grayson is its best.    I feel good esteemed elder Wainwright can handle the Brits in 2023.

 

[Orioles4Life21]

8 minutes ago, Just Regular said:

I agree.    As starved Orioles fans for such a long time, we get angsty about a 4th/5th starter doing his 60-pitch milestone away from Holt.

@Can_of_corn- was just joking about America's maybe 100th best pitcher starting Game 1, and the hope that 3 and 6 years out Grayson is its best.    I feel good esteemed elder Wainwright can handle the Brits in 2023.

 

Ah gotcha. I get defensive about the WBC lol. It is probably my favorite brand of baseball. 

[Can_of_corn]

[Can_of_corn]

 

[Can_of_corn]

 

[Just Regular]

Japan did give the Game 3 start following Ohtani-Darvish to Roki Sasaki, instead of another veteran.

They may just have been spotting him against the Czech Republic.    Certainly in the playoff rounds as long as they survive, it'll be fun to watch the deployment.    It would be crazy great entertainment if their Top 2 won QF/SF, and Sasaki got to throw the final against DR or the USA.

Sasaki's opponent in the cleanup spot - Martin Cervenka.    Baseball doing its stitching time and the world together stuff!

The intro had the tidbit for the Czech team, this will be the most people who have ever seen them play.

[CharmCityHokie]

33 minutes ago, Just Regular said:

Japan did give the Game 3 start following Ohtani-Darvish to Roki Sasaki, instead of another veteran.

They may just have been spotting him against the Czech Republic.    Certainly in the playoff rounds as long as they survive, it'll be fun to watch the deployment.    It would be crazy great entertainment if their Top 2 won QF/SF, and Sasaki got to throw the final against DR or the USA.

Sasaki's opponent in the cleanup spot - Martin Cervenka.    Baseball doing its stitching time and the world together stuff!

The intro had the tidbit for the Czech team, this will be the most people who have ever seen them play.

I was somewhat fascinated to see the Czech Republic on the WBC schedule; pretty much every other represented country you look at and think "yep, that tracks", but the CR was a bit unique. MLB had an interesting story on the history of baseball in the country for anyone interested: https://www.mlb.com/news/featured/history-of-baseball-in-czech-republic

[Just Regular]

Got it in the DVR so now have had the joy of seeing Sasaki pitch hot once.    He is one month older than Coby Mayo.

His last turn in the exhibition about a week ago they had the graphic he tied Ohtani's record with a 102.5 mph fastball.

In game they had a graphic, Highest AVG Fastball Velocities globally from 2022 (750 pitch minimum to I guess bypass the Edwin Diazes of the world) were:

Greene 98.9, Sasaki 98.4, Strider 98.2, Alcantara 98.0, Cole 97.8, Castillo 97.1      I doubt USA minors considered in that report, though I'd have to cherry pick Grayson's pre-lat strain dates to see what I'd like to see there.

Pitch mix was about 60% fastball, 30% splitter.     Perhaps like Strider, who needs a 3rd pitch with two like that, but to the extent he has one the color guy was saying he can work the wrist occasionally on a splitter variation to give it cutter/slider type action.

Sadly, he lost his dad and some other family in the 2011 earthquake/tsunami when he was 9.

Edited March 11, 2023 by Just Regular