As spring training arrives next week, there will be a few star (and honestly a bunch of non-star) players reporting a bit earlier than usual (including the Cubs’ Seiya Suzuki, who is already in Arizona) because they’re participating in the World Baseball Classic. Marcus Stroman will also play again, this time representing Team Puerto Rico after having pitched the USA to victory last time. There will be 20 teams participating this year in four pools of five teams each, as the pools compete in a round-robin to set up the elimination rounds for the bragging rights at the end.
World Baseball Classic 2023
