After a three-year hiatus, the World Baseball Classic is set to return on March 7, 2023, and it’s shaping up to be one of the most star-studded tournaments in history.
A plethora of stars have already committed to playing, including Pete Alonso, Jose Altuve, Nolan Arenado, Mookie Betts, Carlos Correa, Paul Goldschmidt, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bryce Harper, Mike Trout and Trea Turner.
Trout of course will be representing the Los Angeles Angels on Team USA. Other members of the organization expected to participate in the 2013 World Baseball Classic include Shohei Ohtani (Team Japan), David Fletcher and Max Stassi (Team Italy), Patrick Sandoval (Team Mexico), Jaime Barría (Team Panama), and Zack Weiss (Team Israel).
Luis Rengifo will also play in the tournament but is waiting to hear if it will be for Team Venezuela or Team Colombia, via Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com:
Infielder Luis Rengifo is also waiting to hear if he’s made the squad for Team Venezuela, or if he’ll play for Team Colombia instead. He’s eligible to play for either country and would start in center field if he’s on Colombia’s roster.
Rengifo was born in Venezuela but has Panamanian heritage, thus making him eligible to play for both countries.
It appears playing for Team Venezuela would be Rengifo’s his first choice, but that will only be possible if there is enough room on their roster. Teams don’t have to finalize their roster until later this winter.
Rengifo is coming off a career year in which he appeared at five different positions. He hit .264/.294/.429 with 22 doubles, 17 home runs and 52 RBI across 127 games, and accumulated 2.4 WAR.
Fox Sports will be exclusive home for 2023 World Baseball Classic
Earlier this year, Fox Sports announced an exclusive, multi-platform deal to broadcast 2023 World Baseball Classic games to fans in the United States.
Fox Sports will have exclusive coverage of all 47 tournament games across FOX, FS1, FS2, FOX Deportes, Tubi and the FOX Sports app in the U.S.
The 2023 World Baseball Classic is operated by MLB and the MLBPA, and sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation. Opening rounds will take place in Tokyo, Taiwan, Miami and Phoenix, and wraps up with semifinal games at loanDepot park from March 19-20 and the championship game in Miami on Tuesday, March 21.
Twenty national teams will participate in the tournament next year, which is up from the original field of 16.
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