2023 World Baseball Classic: Dominican Republic Team Preview

The 2023 World Baseball Classic kicks off March 7, the first edition of this tournament since 2017. The Dominican Republic looks to improve on its disappointing fifth-place finish back in 2017, after winning it all in 2013. The Dominican Republic has its sights set on going all the way as they’re listed as WBC favorites at a few sportsbooks. The 2023 WBC is must-watch TV for all baseball lovers with the most talent-packed rosters to date. (I already logged Dominican Republic as my best bet for the tournament.)

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

Dominican Republic Team Preview: WBC 2023

The Dominican Republic opens its 2023 WBC tournament against Venezuela March 11 at loanDepot park in Miami. The Dominican Republic is part of the Pool D group along with Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Israel, and Nicaragua. Manny Machado and the D.R. gets a day off before facing off against Nicaragua on the 13th. (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: Dominican Republic Roster

The Dominican Republic’s roster is filled with major leaguers and looks to be the most talented group in the WBC. Nelson Cruz is the D.R.’s general manager (and DH) and put together an absolutely stacked lineup that is better than some All-Star game lineups we’ve seen. Their outfield group alone has won seven Silver Slugger awards, and that doesn’t even include Cruz’ three as a DH. We could see manager Rodney Linares, who is the Tampa Bay Rays bench coach, roll out a lineup that looks something like this:

WBC: Dominican Republic Pitchers

The Dominican Republic pitching staff took a hit with Framber Valdez opting out of the tournament but they still feature a bunch of talented arms, led by defending National League Cy Young Sandy Alcantara and another dominant Astros starter in Cristian Javier. Team Dominican Republic’s starting rotation should look something like this.

There’s enough talent among this D.R. pitching staff to go all the way, and it’ll be carried by an electric group of relief arms that looks like the best group in the WBC. Bryan Abreu, Diego Castillo, Camilo Doval, Carlos Estévez, Rafael Montero, Héctor Neris and José Leclerc are part of the group of talented arms in the pen.