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Elephant Rumblings: World Baseball Classic underway

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Canada Workout Day
MESA, ARIZONA - MARCH 07: Denzel Clarke #23 of Team Canada smiles while working out ahead of the World Baseball Classic at Sloan Park on March 07, 2023 in Mesa, Arizona.
Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images

Happy Wednesday, Athletics Nation!

The World Baseball Classic is back! It’s been five years since the last tournament, which team USA won to notch their first WBC title. The 2021 tournament was canceled due to the pandemic, but has returned for 2023. The Athletic put out a WBC explainer yesterday that includes a lot of essential information to help fans keep up with the action.

Team USA plays its first game of the tournament this Saturday against Great Britain at 9pm ET/6pm PT. The US team roster includes many of the game’s top stars, including Nolan Arenado, Mookie Betts, and Mike Trout.

Other countries are represented by some of the MLB’s best, as well. Manny Machado and Juan Soto will play for the Dominican Republic. Shohei Ohtani and Yu Darvish will play for team Japan. Ronald Acuña Jr. and Xander Bogaerts will play for Venezuela and the Netherlands, respectively. So there is plenty of headline talent in this year’s tournament.

The A’s may presently be bereft of superstars, but they nevertheless have eight players in the tournament, listed below. You can get more details on the A’s WBC contingency from our own Frank Polito right here on AN.

  • Adrián Martínez (Mexico)
  • Jordan Diaz (Colombia)
  • Denzel Clarke (Canada)
  • Zack Gelof (Israel)
  • Jake Fishman (Israel)
  • Miguel Romero (Cuba)
  • James Gonzalez (Panama)
  • Joshwan Wright (Panama)

Athletics Nation wishes all of the A’s young prospects playing in this WBC the very best of good fortune! Be sure to check out The Athletic for more details on schedules and locations, team pools, how to watch, tournament format and rules, and more.

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