Two-time defending champion Japan said yesterday that it has already chosen its 28 players for circulation in this year?s World Baseball Classic. Its title defense begins on March 2 at Fukuoka Dome against Brazil in Group A, which also includes Cuba and China. Unfortunately, two key players are not part of the roster after declining their call-ups.
Ichiro Suzuki, who is currently playing for the New York Yankees, and Yu Darvish, who is currently playing for the Texas Rangers, are both stationed in the United States and would have a difficult time preparing and playing with the national team having that kind of situation. So, national team manager Koji Yamamoto had to choose his players from the 33 candidates playing in domestic professional leagues. His 13-member pitching staff is led by 24-year-old right-hander Masahiro Tanaka, who was part of the Japan side during the 2009 tournament. He had a record of 10-4 with a 1.87 ERA last season playing for the Rakuten Eagles. Japan?s offense will be led by Shinnosuke Abe, who hit .340 with 104 RBIs and 27 home runs last season to help the Yomiuri Giants win the Japan Series.
In 2006, Japan beat Cuba, while in 2009, it beat South Korea, making it the winner of the first two championships. For this year?s tournament, two teams from Group A will proceed to the second round to be held from March 8-12 at Tokyo Dome. The final round will be at San Francisco on March 17-19.
[via NBC Sports]
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