Everything is ready for him World Baseball Classic, which will start on March 8 in the Asian continent, with groups A and B.
Group A will be played at the Intercontinental Baseball Stadium in Taichung, Taiwan, made up of teams from the Netherlands, Panama, Taiwan, Italy and Cuba.
While group B, made up of Japan, South Korea, Australia, China and the Czech Republicwill be played in Japan.
During the digital program “El podcast del fanático”, the panelists analyzed and discussed which teams from these groups are the big favorites.
Regarding group Awhich will start the tournament on the eighth of this month, the panelists highlighted that the Taiwanese team is considered the third best league on that continent, so the team will have “a solid base” of local players compared to opponents such as Italy or Cuba.
Javier Flores, one of the podcast members, stated that due to the members that the Netherlands team has, it could be the best team in group A, noting that it has figures such as Major League shortstop Xander Bogaerts.
About the difficulties of the country, They highlighted that pitching and poor defense could cost him in the competition.
The Czech Republic was placed in eleventh position in 2006, in 2009 they rose to seventh place and later in 2013 and 2017 they managed to reach the semifinals, remaining in fourth position.
Regarding Cuba, the hosts highlight the similarity with the Netherlands, regarding the great baseball figures who will play with the island, where for the first time they will have Major League players such as Andy Ibañez and Yoeni Céspedes on their roster.
Carlos Moreta affirmed during his speech that the Cuban conglomerate could have problems due to the lack it has in pitching.
B Group
Japan is listed as one of the great favourites, has the phenomenon of Major League Baseball Shohei Ohtaniwho will perform at bat and from the mound.
The country with the best results in the history of the Clásico, was crowned champion in the first two editions of the tournament, and placed third in the last two competitions.
Czech Republic, which is the only one of the participants where the players have a “common” job other than playing baseball.
Another of the favorites is South Korea, which owns the second best baseball league in Asia, this helps the team to form a solid base for the tournament.
South Korea will seek to take the crown, the team came in third place in 2006, in 2007 they were in second place, but in 2009 their performance dropped, remaining in ninth position and 2017 as tenth.
