2023 World Baseball Classic: Canada Team Preview

The 2023 World Baseball Classic kicks off March 7, the first edition of this tournament since 2017. Canada looks to improve on its 15th-place finish back in 2017, their roster isn’t the most talented and they have the third-longest odds to qualify from their group at +300. The 2023 WBC is must-watch TV for all baseball lovers with the most talent-packed rosters to date.

It will be tough to top what happened in 2017 when USA’s center fielder Adam Jones robbed his former Orioles teammate Manny Machado of a HR in an elimination game versus the Dominican Republic with the world watching. But I wouldn’t be surprised if we see something that we’ll remember for years.

Canada Team Preview: WBC 2023

Canada opens its 2023 WBC tournament against Great Britain March 12 in Phoenix. Canada is part of the Pool C group along with the USA, Mexico, Colombia, and Great Britain. There won’t be time to rest, as the Canadian club faces Mike Trout and the U.S. the following day. (Check out the entire World Baseball Classic schedule.)

Here’s the WBC bracket (via MLB.com), with the WBC Championship being played March 21 in Miami.

WBC: Canada Roster

Canada’s roster has a handful of big-leaguers and some boppers in the middle of the order, led by Freddie Freeman, but it’s mostly young prospects. Like their lineup, Canada’s pitching staff lacks depth, with Cal Quantrill leading the rotation. We could see manager Ernie Whitt roll out a lineup that looks something like this:

WBC: Canada Pitchers

The Canadian pitching staff lacks depth, but it’s led by Guardians pitcher Cal Quantrill. The Team Canada starting rotation should look something like this.

The bullpen has a few more viable options than the starting rotation and is led by closer Matt Brash. Canada’s pen also includes Adam Loewen, Andrew Albers, Phillippe Aumont and John Axford.