The Weekly Rundown 3/12/23 - 3/18/23
The highs and lows of the World Baseball Classic, Trevor Bauer to Japan, and more.
Good morning!
Eleven days separate us from Opening Day. From now until then, I’ll be rolling out my division standings, awards, and playoff predictions for the 2023 season. In case you missed it, I spent the week tackling the American League. You can check out those predictions below.
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It’s a light rundown this week as there wasn’t a whole lot of Major League Baseball news. The World Baseball Classic, however, was a different story. There’s plenty to cover there. So without further ado, grab your coffee and let’s jump in.
World Baseball Classic update
Here were the scores and top highlights from the tournament last week, plus the updated standings/bracket and my takeaways so far.
Sunday, March 12
Japan 7, Australia 1
Italy 7, Netherlands 1
Israel 3, Nicaragua 1
Canada 18, Great Britain 8 (F/7)
Venezuela 9, Puerto Rico 6
Mexico 11, United States 5
Australia 8, Czech Republic 3
Monday, March 13
Korea 22, China 2 (F/5)
Dominican Republic 6, Nicaragua 1
Great Britain 7, Colombia 5
Puerto Rico 10, Israel 0 (F/8)
United States 12, Canada 1 (F/7)
Tuesday, March 14
Venezuela 4, Nicaragua 1
Canada 5, Colombia 0
Dominican Republic 10, Israel 0 (F/7)
Mexico 2, Great Britain 1
Wednesday, March 15
Cuba 4, Australia 3
Venezuela 5, Israel 1
Mexico 10, Canada 3
Puerto Rico 5, Dominican Republic 2
United States 3, Colombia 2
Thursday, March 16
Japan 9, Italy 3
Friday, March 17
Mexico 5, Puerto Rico 4
Saturday, March 18
United States 9, Venezuela 7
Updated Standings/Bracket
We’re done with pool play and have reached the knockout stage of the tournament. The quarterfinals took place this week and the four countries headed to the semifinals are Mexico, Japan, Cuba, and the United States. USA vs. Cuba is set for tonight and Mexico vs. Japan is on Monday.
Check out the bracket below.
Quick WBC takeaways
No one steps their game up on the big stage more than Randy Arozarena. His incredible catch against Puerto Rico was the latest example.
So much for that Dominican Republic hype. The most talented roster in the tourney didn’t even make it to the knockout stage. Baseball is weird.
Almost every game has a Game 7-like atmosphere. How anyone can call this tournament meaningless is baffling.
I just can’t see anyone stopping Japan.
That Trea Turner grand slam (highlights above) was one of the coolest baseball moments I’ve seen in a while.
I’ve never seen Mike Trout so fired up. Need him playing meaningful baseball in October.
The Edwin Diaz debate
It’s undeniable that the World Baseball Classic is great for the sport. All you have to do is watch an inning or two to understand the passion the players and fans have for this tournament. It means so much to the players to represent their country, and it means so much for these fans to have their country represented through the sport that they love.
These players participate in the WBC fully aware of the risks associated with it. If they get hurt, it could be a major blow to the MLB club paying their contract. It’s every team and fan’s worst fear when their star players take part in these types of events.
So when New York Mets closer Edwin Diaz went down with a catastrophic knee injury while celebrating Puerto Rico’s win over the Dominican Republic, all hell broke loose.
Diaz underwent surgery for a torn patellar tendon. The Mets will be without their elite closer for the entire 2023 season because of a celebration.
That news set the baseball world ablaze with hot takes about the tournament’s importance and whether MLB players should be allowed to participate. Barstool Sports’ Kevin Clancy — a Mets fan who takes the contrarian opinion on just about everything for the sake of attention, making this right in his wheelhouse — went on a Twitter tirade blasting the WBC and anyone who finds joy in it.
That’s just one of a billion anti-WBC tweets from the miserable human. The schtick pays though, so I guess I can’t blame him.
But Clancy wasn’t alone. He had the senile Keith Olbermann on his side, for whatever that’s worth.
Weirdo.
I’m assuming they want spring training games and all All-Star events shut down too. Hell, let’s ban players from playing in the Dominican Winter League while we’re at it. They’re all meaningless exhibitions, right? Let’s cut the length of the MLB season in half too since all that matters is a World Series. Can’t take the chance on guys getting hurt in Game 160!
Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Gavin Lux is out for the season with a torn ACL suffered in spring training. Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo went down with an injury in spring training a day after Diaz’s freak accident. It doesn’t matter whether these guys are playing against the Miami Marlins’ Triple-A team in spring training or celebrating a win over the Dominican Republic in the WBC. Injuries come with the territory and every player knows they’re taking a risk every time they step on the field.
It sucks when it’s your team, of course. I can’t fault fans for being upset about one of their best players going down and directing that anger toward the WBC. But this is why front offices should always have a Plan B. If your season hinged on the health of your closer, you probably didn’t have much of a shot at the World Series to begin with.
The World Baseball Classic probably doesn’t mean much to the casual baseball fan, and that’s OK. I get it. But for real fans of the sport and more importantly the players, it’s much more than an exhibition. Mets star Francisco Lindor summed it up.
That should end the debate right there. It doesn’t matter what you, me, your mother, Kevin Clancy, or Keith Olbermann think. To most of these players, the event is worth putting their health on the line. And according to The Athletic, the Mets will get reimbursed for Edwin Díaz’s salary while he’s on the injured list because MLB has insurance in place to protect teams under these unfortunate circumstances.
So to the Kevin Clancys and Keith Olbermanns of the world, give it a rest. The World Baseball Classic isn’t going anywhere. It’ll be back four years from now, four years after that, four years after that, etc. That’s for the best, and I’d be willing to bet Edwin Diaz would say the same.
Trevor Bauer to Japan
The only other notable baseball news this week was the next chapter of the Trevor Bauer saga. The disgraced former Cy Young award winner will spend the year in Japan playing for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars of the Nippon Professional Baseball league.
Bauer’s deal reportedly is for one year and $4 million. It’s pretty obvious what he’s doing here. He knows that no MLB club wants to take the PR hit that will come with signing him so soon after his reinstatement from his 194-game suspension, so he’s letting time heal all wounds. He’ll get to stay in baseball shape overseas and when the heat dies down this time next year, some team will take a chance on him.
Let’s hope that’s the last we hear about Bauer until then. Frankly, I’m tired of seeing his name pop up in the news followed by a bunch of unsolicited opinions on his legal situation from people who have no clue what they’re talking about.
Rapid Fire
More bad news for the Mets. Left-hander Jose Quintana will undergo surgery after a lesion was found on his ribs. He’ll be sidelined until at least July. Last season, the 34-year-old posted a career-best 2.93 ERA in 32 appearances with the Pirates and Cardinals. He signed a two-year deal worth $26 million with the Mets over the winter.
Like I said, slow week other than the World Baseball Classic drama. We’ll be back with the final WBC update and hopefully more MLB news next Sunday morning, which will mark our last rundown before Opening Day. Get excited!