The 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball tournament, and the fifth iteration of the World Baseball Classic. It began on March 8, 2023, and ran until March 21.
It was originally scheduled to take place in 2021, four years after the previous tournament, but was canceled in May 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was later announced that qualifications for the Classic would start in September 2022, as agreed by World Baseball Classic Inc. (WBCI) The tournament expanded from 16 to 20 national teams, with all teams that participated in the 2017 edition automatically qualifying, plus four additional spots. Unlike in 2009, 2013, and 2017, the U.S. lineup included some distinguished players and attracted significant attention for the tournament.
Japan won their record-extending third title after defeating defending champions United States 3–2 in the championship game, becoming the second team since the Dominican Republic in the 2013 World Baseball Classic to win the WBC with an undefeated record. Shohei Ohtani was named the World Baseball Classic Most Valuable Player.
Teams
Qualification
In January 2020, the WBC announced that the 16 national teams which participated at the 2017 World Baseball Classic would automatically qualify for the 2023 tournament.
A qualifying tournament was scheduled for March 2020 in Tucson, Arizona, United States, to determine the last four teams. Twelve teams were split into two pools, and the top two teams in each pool would qualify. On March 12, 2020, Major League Baseball announced that the qualifying tournaments were being postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The qualification tournament ended up postponing to September 16–21, 2022, for the Africa/Europe qualifiers and September 30 – October 5, 2022, for the Americas/Asia/Oceania qualifiers.
The Czech Republic, Great Britain, and Nicaragua made their first appearance in the World Baseball Classic, while Panama returned after having missed out on the last two previous World Baseball Classic tournaments. This was the third consecutive time that South Africa, the only African team, did not qualify for the World Baseball Classic, and the second consecutive time that both Brazil and Spain did not qualify. With Panama qualified for the World Baseball Classic for the first time since 2009, South Africa now has the longest active WBC appearance drought at 14 years, having not qualified since 2009.
+ Qualified teamsRegionTeamQualificationmethodPrevious best resultWBSC WorldRankingsAmericas Automatically qualified4First round (2006, 2009, 2013, 2017)14 Automatically qualified1First round (2017)11 Automatically qualified4Runners-up (2006)8 Automatically qualified4Champions (2013)9 Automatically qualified4Second round (2006, 2009)5 Automatically qualified4Runners-up (2013, 2017)13 Automatically qualified as hosts4Champions (2017)3 Automatically qualified4Semifinals (2009)6 Qualifier 2 Winners2First round (2006, 2009)12 Qualifier 2 Runners-up0None (debut)17Asia Automatically qualified4First round (2006, 2009, 2013, 2017)30 Automatically qualified as hosts4Second round (2013)2 Automatically qualified as hosts4Champions (2006, 2009)1 Automatically qualified4Runners-up (2009)4Europe Automatically qualified1Second round (2017)20 Automatically qualified4Second round (2013)16 Automatically qualified4Semifinals (2013, 2017)7 Qualifier 1 Winners0None (debut)22 Qualifier 1 Runners-up0None (debut)15 Oceania Automatically qualified4First round (2006, 2009, 2013, 2017)10
Pools
The initial pool assignments (without the teams to advance from the qualifiers—pot 5) were announced by World Baseball Classic Inc. (WBCI) on July 7, 2022. The complete pools were announced after the conclusion of the qualifiers. Organizers prioritized placement in separate pools of the four nations which reached the semifinals of the 2017 WBC (Japan, the Netherlands, Puerto Rico, and the United States) and the three hosts (Japan, the United States, and Taiwan). Remaining pool assignments were made based on WBSC World Rankings, competitive balance, and commercial and geographic interest.
Note: Numbers in parentheses indicate positions in the WBSC World Rankings at the time of the announcement of the pools.
Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4 Pot 5 (1) (H) (2) (H) (5) (H) (16) (8) (3) (4) (6) (7) (9) (10) (11) (12) (17) (20) (21) (13) (14) (15) (24)
Venues Four stadiums were used during the main tournament.
Pool APool B & QuarterfinalsPool CPool D, Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Championship Taichung, Taiwan Tokyo, Japan Phoenix, United States Miami, United StatesTaichung Intercontinental Baseball StadiumTokyo DomeChase FieldLoanDepot ParkCapacity: 20,000Capacity: 45,600Capacity: 48,686Capacity: 36,742
Attendance The first round of the tournament drew 1,010,999 fans across all four venues, nearly double the previous record for the WBC. This included 361,976 fans in Tokyo for Pool B and 295,850 fans in Miami for Pool D. Total attendance for the tournament across all rounds was 1,306,414, the highest in WBC history.
Team base camps
National squads' base campsTeamCity Fuchu Mesa Hioki Taichung Mesa Okinawa, Taipei Miyazaki Fort Myers Phoenix Jupiter Team City Taichung Miyazaki Scottsdale Taichung Vero Beach Taichung Fort Myers Tucson Scottsdale West Palm Beach
Rosters
Participating nations had to submit their final 30-man rosters no later than February 7, 2023. WBC rules required teams to carry at least 14 pitchers and two catchers on their rosters.
Officiating On March 7, 2023, Major League Baseball and the World Baseball Softball Confederation released the list of officials for the tournament.
Umpires
Trent Thomas Chris Graham Stu Scheurwater Chan-Jung Chang Maikol Tibabijo Ángel Hernández Ramon De Jesus Felix Tejeda Serge Makouchetchev Tim Meyer Fabrizio Fabrizi Shōji Arisumi Edwin Louisa Jairo Mendoza Alejandro Pecero Delfin Colon Roberto Ortiz Cuti Suárez Ki Taik Park Lance Barksdale Dan Bellino Cory Blaser Mark Carlson Laz Díaz Doug Eddings Mike Estabrook Andy Fletcher Chris Guccione Adam Hamari Pat Hoberg Dan Iassogna Ron Kulpa Nic Lentz Will Little Ben May Bill Miller Alan Porter Chris Segal John Tumpane Quinn Wolcott Larry Vanover Jhonatan Biarreta Carlos Torres
Incorrectly listed as Ki Talk Park
Supervisors
Mike Everitt Cris Jones Jeff Kellogg Larry Young
Prize money The prize money allocation was released by Major League Baseball and the World Baseball Softball Confederation on March 7, 2023. Teams collected prize money for each stage they qualified in. The champions could collect a maximum of $3 million if they were a pool winner.
StagePrize money (US$)No. of teamsTotal (US$)Champions$1,000,0001$1,000,000Finalists$500,0002$1,000,000Semifinalists$500,0004$2,000,000Quarterfinalists$400,0008$3,200,000Pool winners$300,0004$1,200,000Participants$300,00020$6,000,000Total $14,400,000
Group stage Scheduled locations and dates are as follows:
TiebreakersThe ranking of teams in the group stage is determined as follows:
Win percentage Head-to-head record Lowest quotient of runs allowed by defensive outs between tied teams Lowest quotient of earned runs allowed by defensive outs between tied teams Highest batting average Drawing of lots
Pool A
Pool A was contested in Taichung during March 8–12, 2023.
Pool B
Pool B was contested in Tokyo during March 9–13, 2023.
Pool C
Pool C was contested in Phoenix during March 11–15, 2023.
Pool D
Pool D was contested in Miami during March 11–15, 2023.
Knockout stage
The top two teams from each pool advanced to the single elimination bracket. These games were contested from March 15–21, 2023. Tokyo hosted two of the quarterfinals, while the other two quarterfinals, the semifinals, and the championship game took place in Miami.
Bracket
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Final
Final standings The final standings were calculated by the WBSC for inclusion in the WBSC Men's Baseball World Rankings system.
In the final standings, teams that were eliminated in the same round were given the same number of points, regardless of final record. Teams that placed third were ranked above those who placed in 4th, regardless of record. The same can be said for teams that placed in 4th with their ranking compared to those who placed in 5th.
RkTeamWLTiebreaker70–Lost in Final52–Lost in Semifinals42–433–Lost in Quarterfinals541–632RA/Outs = 0.132732RA/Outs = 0.183823–3rd place in First Round pools922RA/Outs = 0.1111022RA/Outs = 0.1861122RA/Outs = 0.2801222RA/Outs = 0.3234th place in First Round pools1322–1413RA/Outs = 0.2741513RA/Outs = 0.2941613RA/Outs = 0.3335th place in First Round pools1722–1813–1904RA/Outs = 0.2222004RA/Outs = 0.595
Awards Most Valuable Players
Group stage Pool A – Yu Chang Pool B – Shohei Ohtani Pool C – Randy Arozarena Pool D – Salvador Pérez
Knockout stage Tournament – Shohei Ohtani
2023 All-World Baseball Classic team
PositionPlayerC Salvador Pérez1B Yu Chang2B Javier Báez3B Yoán MoncadaSS Trea TurnerOF Randy Arozarena Mike Trout Masataka YoshidaDH Shohei OhtaniP Shohei Ohtani Miguel Romero Patrick Sandoval
Source:
Statistical leaders
Batting StatisticNameTotal/AvgBatting average* Tyler O'Neill .615Hits 5 tied with 10Runs Kensuke Kondoh Shohei Ohtani 9Home runs Trea Turner 5Runs batted in Masataka Yoshida 13Strikeouts Munetaka Murakami 13Stolen bases Chavez Young 5On-base percentage* Tyler O'Neill .722Slugging percentage* Edouard Julien 1.154OPS* Edouard Julien 1.821 * Minimum 2.7 plate appearances per team game
Bold indicates all-time best in a single tournament of the World Baseball Classic
Pitching StatisticNameTotal/AvgWins 5 tied with 2Losses J. C. Ramírez 2Saves 4 tied with 2Innings pitched Shohei Ohtani 9.2Hits allowed Adam Wainwright 10Runs allowed Daniel Bard 8Earned runs allowed Daniel Bard 8Earned run average* 7 tied with 0.00Walks Xiang Wang 8Strikeouts Miguel Romero 13WHIP* José De León 0.00 * Minimum 0.8 innings pitched per team game
Notes
Broadcasting Television ratings The Japan–South Korea pool B game drew a household viewership of 44.4% in Japan and 11.7% in South Korea. Translated as The broadcast averaged 29.9 million Japanese viewers (28.9% individual viewership) and 2.7 million Korean viewers. Rating indicated that 62.343 million Japanese watched at least one minute of the game. The Korean rating in that game was the second-most-watched WBC game in South Korea, after the 2009 Japan-South Korea final.
The Japan–Italy quarterfinal game broke the Japanese WBC viewership record. It drew an average 48.0% household viewership in Japan and averaged 38.2 million viewers.
In the United States, the World Baseball Classic was carried by Fox Sports for the first time, with games split among six Fox networks. The championship game drew 5.2 million average viewers in the US, peaking at 6.5 million viewers in the final 15 minutes, a new American record for a WBC game. The Japan–Mexico semifinal (2.55M average viewers), the United States-Venezuela quarterfinal (2.52M average viewers), and the United States-Cuba semifinal (2.25M average viewers), were the 5th, 6th and 7th largest World Baseball Classic audiences, respectively, in the United States.
In Puerto Rico, the Pool D game between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic was viewed by 62% of households.
Broadcasting rights Territory Rights holder(s) Ref. Africa ESPN Brazil BandSports Canada Central America Tigo Sports Caribbean SportsMax China Colombia Win Sports Cuba Czech Republic ČT Dominican Republic France beIN Sports German-speaking countries More Than Sports TV Hungary Sport TV Israel Sport 5 Italy Sky Italia Japan Mexico Imagen Netherlands ESPN Nordic countries Viaplay Oceania ESPN Panama TVN Puerto Rico WAPA Deportes South America DirecTV Southeast Asia & Hong Kong SPOTV South Korea Taiwan Turkey Saran Media United Kingdom & Ireland BT Sport United States Venezuela
Notes