“Japan’s undefeated championship, the US was eliminated in the 2nd round, Lee Jung-hoo’s great record” American columnist bold predictions
The 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC) kicked off with Group A on the 8th. Following the participation of the largest number of teams ever, there is a prevailing expectation that all countries will work hard to organize the lineup and that there will be plenty of things to see.
In the midst of this, Mike Axisa, a well-known columnist for CBS Sports in the US, previewed the tournament on the 8th (Korean time) and presented five bold predictions, drawing attention. Of course, due to the nature of the corner, there are some parts that have to be irrational. However, Axisa explained her argument with ‘plausible’ logic.
The most interesting thing is, of course, the winning team. Axisa made a ‘bold’ prediction that Japan would achieve its second undefeated title after the Dominican Republic in 2013. Japan is tied in Group B with Korea, Australia, China and the Czech Republic. If you pass Group B as 1st place, you will play the 2nd place in Group A and the quarterfinals, and if you advance to 2nd place, you will play the 1st place in Group A and the quarterfinals.
It is evaluated that it competes with the United States and the Dominican Republic in terms of objective power. Here, Japan is a strong player in the WBC, having won the championship in the 1st and 2nd tournaments. ‘Japan is the most successful team in WBC history, finishing in the top three in all four previous tournaments and winning twice. Their 0.742 tournament win rate is second only to the Dominican Republic (.750),” he said. “The Dominican Republic is naturally praised for its insanely deep depth, but the Japanese roster is also excellent,” he said, especially highlighting the strength of the mound.
“MLB fans don’t know many players in Japan, but they will soon,” Axisa said. Japan has four of the top six starters for this tournament, including Shohei Otani, Yu Darvish, Rocky Sasaki and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. . Japan is talented and takes the WBC seriously. Their training and preparation had already begun a few weeks ago,’ he said. 바카라
Axisa, who was favorable to Japan, projected Ohtani as the MVP of the tournament and Sasaki as the pitcher who would get the last out of the tournament, but on the contrary, gave a harsh evaluation to the United States. Axisa saw that the United States had not performed well in the WBC before the last tournament, and that the mound was relatively behind. Axisa evaluates the American rotation as not bad, but ‘I think the American mound is lacking compared to other strong players. He doesn’t have the confidence to make up for it on offense,’ he predicted a second round elimination.
The first round elimination of the United States will be the greatest surprise of the tournament, but in the second round against the Dominican Republic, a single failure can lead to elimination. It is a game in which the importance of the starting pitcher is increasing, but the United States is not receiving a very good evaluation from the starting pitcher due to the departure of Clayton Kershaw and Nestor Cortes.
Meanwhile, Axisa drew attention by predicting that Lee Jung-hoo would record the first hit for the cycle in WBC history. Other than that, Nicaragua can catch Venezuela, so interest is gathering in the ending.