Nolan Arenado wants the World Baseball Classic to become a global event on a scale close to the Soccer World Cup.
“I feel like the media attention is a little bit higher than it was in 2017. There are more guys wanting to be in it,” said the St. Louis third baseman. Louis Cardinals. I know it’s not the World Cup, but just watching the World Cup and seeing how good it was to represent your country. I don’t know if it will reach that level, but let’s at least try to get close. »
The classic will start on Wednesday in Taiwan. The Netherlands will face Cuba and Panama will face the Taiwanese, in a group A that also includes Italy.
Group B will start the following day in Tokyo, with Australia, China, Czech Republic, Japan and South Korea vying for two places in the quarterfinals.
Group C kicks off on Saturday in Phoenix with defending champions USA, Canada, Colombia and Mexico.
Group D starts on the same day in Miami, where they will face the Dominican Republic, Israel, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico and Venezuela.
“At the last World Classic, I was a little hesitant whether to go or not and when I missed my turn after watching the games, I was a little bit regretful,” said Angels outfielder Mike Trout of Los Angeles. They looked like they were having a lot of fun. »
The top two teams in each group qualify for the knockout phase. The quarterfinals will be played in Tokyo on March 15th and 16th and in Miami on March 17th and 18th.
The semifinals will take place in Miami on March 19 and 20, with the final on March 21, nine days before the start of the major league baseball season.
