WBC Pool B primer: Japan, Korea, Australia, China, Czech Republic rosters, coaches and more

WBC Pool B primer: Japan, Korea, Australia, China, Czech Republic rosters, coaches and more

Nick Groke
Mar 8, 2023

A top-heavy bracket in the World Baseball Classic should draw a horde of rabid fans in Tokyo starting Wednesday when host Japan takes on China to open Group B. The Samurai are among the favorites in the tournament and Korea is not far behind.

And, of course, Japan’s entry into the WBC will allow superstar Shohei Ohtani to play on home soil for the first time since 2015. Crowds will go wild. Here’s a look at a tough Group B playing out in Tokyo.

Japan

Team Japan roster

Coaching staff: Hideki Kuriyama was a university professor before the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters hired him as manager in 2012. He immediately led them to a Pacific League pennant, even after losing star pitcher Yu Darvish to the Texas Rangers that winter. By 2016, Kuriyama guided the Fighters to an NPB title. He left the team in 2021 to take over as national team manager.

Advertisement

Player to watch: Munetaka Murakami. Heads up. The 23-year-old Yakult Swallows hitter can crush a baseball into the seats. He is a generational slugger, a David Ortiz-type in the making. The lefty hit 56 homers in the NPB last year, more than the legendary Sadaharu Oh ever did. Even in high school, Murakami was a star, becoming known in Japan as the “Babe Ruth of Higo.” He recently re-signed with the Swallows on a three-year deal, but his contract stipulates that he can move to MLB after the 2025 season. He will almost surely be among the most in-demand free agents that winter.

Previous standout international performances: Champions of the 2009 WBC (making them the only two-time winners of the tournament). And they rolled to gold at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo in 2021.

How they got here: One of the heavyweights of this tournament, the “Samurai,” as they are known, sport a stacked roster. They might be among the favorites if their roster were Shohei Ohtani (Angels) and a Double-A roster, to be honest. But add Yu Darvish (Padres) atop the rotation, Lars Nootbaar (Cardinals) in center field and Masataka Yoshida (Red Sox) in left, along with Murakami at third base, Shugo Maki (Seibu Lions) at second and on and on. It’s an All-Star team, even after the Cubs’ Seiya Suzuki withdrew because of injury. Japan will field the youngest roster in the tournament. And yet, it may be the best team in their history.

Korea

Team Korea roster

Coaching staff: Korea is led by Kang Chul Lee, a submariner in his pitching days with the Haitai Tigers who won five KBO titles and was voted MVP in 1996. Now 56, he’s been managing the KT Wiz since 2018, where he took a 50-94 team and turned them into league champs within three years.

Player to watch: Lee Jung-hoo. The Kiwoom Heroes’ center fielder nearly pulled off a Triple Crown in the KBO last season, leading the league in batting average, RBIs and OBP. He won the league MVP award, which carried extra significance. His dad, Lee Jong-beom, was an MVP himself, in 1994, a legend in his time who earned the nickname “Son of the Wind” because of his astounding speed. Jung-hoo, now, is known as “Grandson of the Wind.” He is a superstar in Korea. And, this winter, MLB teams will be allowed to chase him as a free agent.

Advertisement

Previous standout international performances: Winners of the 2015 Asian Championships, Korea finished as runners-up in the 2009 WBC, falling to Japan in the final.

How they got here: Korea will field one of the best double-play combinations among WBC infields, with the Padres’ Ha-seong Kim at shortstop and Cardinals’ Tommy Edman at second base. And with the MVP Lee in center field and five-time Gold Glove catcher Yang Eui-ji (Doosan Bears), Korea has a solid defensive spine. Their questions fall to pitching. Right-hander An Woo-jin, who led the KBO with 224 Ks last season, was left off the roster amid a long-simmering high school bullying scandal. Instead, the rotation will be led by Kwang-hyun Kim, the ex-Cardinals pitcher who returned to Korea to pitch for SSG Landers last season.

Australia

Team Australia roster

Coaching staff: Let’s remember a guy: Dave Nilsson was an eight-year catcher with the Brewers in the 1990s who, in ’99, became the first Australian-born player to play in an MLB All-Star Game. That same year, he bought the Australian Baseball League — yes, he purchased the whole thing. After he retired as a player, Nilsson became something like the Godfather of Australian baseball, grinding to build the game from every angle in his home country. For his work, in 2019 he was named a Member of the Order of Australia, with the approval of Queen Elizabeth of England. He now manages the Brisbane Bandits and Australia’s national team.

Player to watch: Darryl George. Once part of the Rays organization, George was playing with the Melbourne Aces in 2021 when he hit two grand slams, with 10 total RBIs, in a game against the Brisbane Bandits. That was a league record, on both accounts. His Aces tenure was interrupted only by a stint with the Orix Buffaloes in NPB in 2017.

 Robert Perkins and Jack O’ Loughlin (r) of Team Australia. (Shinya Tanaka / WBCI/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

Previous standout international performances: Winners of a silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.

How they got here: Australia has played in every WBC since its inception and last time out, in 2017, they finished ninth — their best showing yet. The roster is filled with current and former minor-leaguers from MLB. That current list includes first baseman Rixon Wingrove, 22, a Phillies farmhand who smacked 12 homers for the High-A Jersey Shore BlueClaws last season. They’re a sound team, if lacking in firepower. But between shortstop Logan Wade, 31; second baseman Robbie Glendinning, 27; ace right-hander Tim Atherton, 33; and George, among others, Australia is soaked through with WBC experience.

Advertisement

China

Team China roster

Coaching staff: Dean Treanor, 75, former Marlins bullpen coach and two-time Albuquerque Isotopes manager, will skipper the squad from China. He’s played or coached for more teams, current and defunct, than any manager in the tournament. (Memphis Chicks? Check. Miami Miracle? Check. Ottawa Lynx? Check. Delmarva Shorebirds, Altoona Curve, Toros del Este? You betcha.) And Pirates first-base coach Tarrik Brock will work as third-base coach.

Player to watch: Alan Carter. As an undrafted free agent out of Lee University in Cleveland, Tenn., Carter, 25, recently signed a minor-league deal with the Angels. He’s been on a journey. After the pandemic messed with the 2020 collegiate season, Carter went through Tommy John surgery in 2021. But he returned last year as Lee’s closer throwing 99 mph with an active fastball.

Previous standout international performances: Third-place finish in the 2019 Asian Baseball Championship, after twice taking down (an admittedly understaffed) South Korea side. And they did blow out Pakistan, 11-1.

How they got here: China hasn’t always been as dedicated to baseball. The team played in just one Olympic Games, in 2008, and only with an automatic berth as host nation. But the players and coaches who make up the team certainly care. Terry Collins was their manager in the 2009 WBC when China finished 11th, its best result. And 39-year-old Ray Chang, at one point the best fielding third baseman in the Eastern League when he was in the Red Sox organization, will play in his fourth WBC, even as he works as head of baseball operations in China. Kwon Ju, 27, who pitches for the KBO’s KT Wiz, will lead China’s rotation.

Czech Republic

Team Czech Republic roster

Coaching staff: Pavel Chadim was there from the beginning, when the Czech Republic started playing organized ball at the national level sometime in the mid-1990s, starring as an outfielder on the team in their first three trips to the European Championships. Since then, he helped develop youth baseball in his country, managing the first Czech team to play in the Little League World Series, Brno, in 2013. He was among the executives of the national Czech Baseball Association before being named national team manager in 2021.

Player to watch: Martin Schneider. Don’t let anybody tell you that Shohei Ohtani is a unicorn in the WBC. In fact, there are at least two two-way stars playing in the tournament, including the 36-year-old Schneider, who, in various seasons over nearly two decades, has led the Czech Extraliga in home runs, runs, RBIs, hits, steals and ERA. In his day job, Schneider works as a firefighter in Moravia.

Previous standout international performances: Finished fourth in the 2014 European Championships.

Advertisement

How they got here: The Czechs clawed their way through qualifying, including an impressive victory over Spain, to earn their first appearance in the WBC. They will fall behind an experienced battery led by right-hander Marek Minařík, 29, who pitched in the rookie leagues in the Phillies and Pirates systems, and catcher Martin Červenka, who was a signee of the Cleveland Indians after graduating high school in 2009. Červenka was a Rule 5 draft pick of the Orioles in 2017 and made it as high as Triple A, including with the Syracuse Mets in 2021. They’ll need to lean on Schneider, Minařík and Červenka for their experience in a tough group.

For more of The Athletic’s World Baseball Classic coverage, visit our WBC hub and live blog.

(Image: John Bradford / The Athletic; Photos of Roki Sasaki and Ha-seong Kim: Kenta Harada / Getty Images)

Get all-access to exclusive stories.

Subscribe to The Athletic for in-depth coverage of your favorite players, teams, leagues and clubs. Try a week on us.