The World Baseball Classic will take place for the first time since 2017 on March 8 after the COVID-19 pandemic pushed back the 2021 event. The United States captured its first title in the last WBC and will be back with another star-studded roster this time around.
Th Los Angeles Dodgers will have multiple players representing different countries and it'll affect their spring training report date. Those participating in the 2023 World Baseball Classic will report 3-5 days earlier than their teammates who aren't.
When is the World Baseball Classic?
This year's World Baseball Classic begins on March 8 and concludes on March 21.
What Dodgers players are in the 2023 World Baseball Classic?
The Dodgers have a number of stars suiting up. Here's what we know so far.
- United States: Clayton Kershaw, Mookie Betts and Will Smith
- Mexico: Julio Urías, Austin Barnes and Victor González
- Canada: Freddie Freeman
- Venezuela: Miguel Rojas
The rosters are yet to be finalized, so there could be more additions as we get closer to the start date.
2023 World Baseball Classic pools
Pool A | Pool B | Pool C | Pool D |
Chinese Taipei | Australia | Canada | Dominican Republic |
Cuba | China | Colombia | Israel |
Italy | Japan | Mexico | Puerto Rico |
Netherlands | Korea | United States | Venezuela |
Panama | Czech Republic | Great Britain | Nicaragua |
March 8-13 in Taichung, Taiwan | March 9-13 in Tokyo, Japan | March 11-15 in Phoenix, Arizona | March 11-15 in Miami, Florida |
2023 World Baseball Classic schedule after Pool Play
- March 15-16 in Tokyo: Quarterfinal No. 1 between the winners and runners-up from Pools A and B
- March 17-18 in Miami: Quarterfinal No. 2 between the winners and runners-up from Pools C and D
- March 19-20 in Miami: Semifinals
- March 21 in Miami: Championship game
Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout is captaining Team USA. Dodgers' hopeful 2024 free agent target Shohei Ohtani will be playing for Team Japan. A number of rivals from the San Diego Padres will be participating, too, including Manny Machado (DR), Juan Soto (DR), Yu Darvish (JPN), Ha-Seong Kim (South Korea), Nick Martinez (USA) and Seth Lugo (Puerto Rico). Joc Pederson (Israel) and Camilo Doval (DR) of the Giants, Merrill Kelly (USA) and Ketel Marte (DR) of the Diamondbacks and Jake Bird (Israel), Daniel Bard (USA) and Kyle Freeland (USA) of the Rockies are among the other division rivals on board as well.
It'll be important for fans to monitor the Dodgers players in the WBC, particularly Kershaw and Urías, both of whom dealt with injuries/being overworked over the last couple years. Hopefully the additional play over these two weeks has no effect on their crucial 2023 campaigns.