The 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC) will run from March 8th-21st 2023.
Team USA are the reigning champs after winning the 2017 World Baseball Classic. This tournament was supposed to take place in 2021, but was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and is now taking place this year.
The event has expanded and there are now 20 teams in the mix.
2023 WBC Schedule and Format
Teams have been split into four pools of five based on proximity to each other. Every team in a pool will play each other once and the top two teams from each pool will advance to the quarterfinals.
Once the quarterfinals start, it’s single elimination until two teams are left to play for the championship.
Pool A: Games will run from March 8th-13th in Taichung, Taiwan.
Pool A Teams: Chinese Taipei, Netherlands, Cuba, Italy and Panama.
Pool B: Games will run from March 9th-13th in Tokyo, Japan.
Pool B Teams: Japan, Korea, Australia, China and Czech Republic.
Pool C: Games will run from March 11th-15th in Phoenix, Arizona.
Pool C Teams: USA, Mexico, Colombia, Canada and Great Britain.
Pool D: Games will run from March 11th-15th in Miami, Florida.
Pool D Teams: Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Israel and Nicaragua.
The semifinals are March 19th-20th and the final is March 21st in Miami, Florida.
WBC 2023 Predictions
The bookies have the WBC as a three-team race between the Dominican Republic (+200), USA (+225) and Japan (+280). Puerto Rico (+850) are next and they finished runner-up in 2017.
The two favorites are bringing stacked rosters to this year’s World Baseball Classic.
The Dominican Republic will have Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Manny Machado in the infield. The outfield features Juan Soto, Julio Rodriguez, Eloy Jimenez and Teoscar Hernandez.
Sandy Alcantara leads the pitching rotation. Team DR are going to score a lot of runs and easily advance out of Pool D, but things will get more difficult as the tournament progresses.
Team USA have an even stronger batting order. They have Mike Trout, Mookie Betts, Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado, Trea Turner, Pete Alonso, J.T. Realmuto, Kyle Schwarber and more.
It’s going to be tough to find at-bats for all of the talent on Team USA.
Pitching isn’t as strong and the USA will rely heavily on veterans. Clayton Kershaw is the ace, plus there’s also Adam Wainwright and Lance Lynn. Not a single pitcher on the roster played in the 2017 WBC.
Shohei Ohtani and Yu Dravish will look to lead Team Japan to a third WBC title, but with the firepower on Team DR and Team USA, it’s going to be tough. Japan should easily qualify for the semifinals, though as Pools A and B are relatively weak.
There are plenty of other MLB stars on other teams as well, but no other team has as much depth as the two favorites.
Pitching is a concern for Team USA, but I’m betting on them to repeat as WBC Champions. Kershaw will pitch in the finals. Trout and the rest of the team are motivated to win with such a stacked roster as well.
Best Bet: Team USA (+225)
Odds to Win WBC 2023
Here are the odds to win for every team competing in the 2023 World Baseball Classic:
Dominican Republic (+200)
USA (+225)
Japan (+280)
Puerto Rico (+850)
Venezuela (+1400)
Korea Republic (+1400)
Cuba (+1400)
Mexico (+3500)
Netherlands (+5000)
Israel (+5000)
Canada (+5000)
Chinese Taipei (+5000)
Panama (+6500)
Australia (+6500)
Colombia (+10000)
Italy (+13000)
Nicaragua (+20000)
Great Britain (+20000)
Czech Republic (+20000)
China (+25000)
Read our baseball betting guide next if you’re new to sports gambling.
