World Baseball Classic Betting Preview

For the first time since 2017, the World Baseball Classic is back. The United States will look to defend its title with the addition of one of the best sluggers in the world, Mike Trout.

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 then-teammate, Manny Machado, of a home run in an elimination game with the world watching, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we see something that we’ll remember for years.

Here’s the WBC bracket via mlb.com. The tournament begins Tuesday, March 7, and ends Tuesday, March 21.

This year’s tournament has expanded to 20 teams — here are the complete WBC tournament rules. The rules are different from what we’re used to in MLB, with some of the more essential rules in the tournament surrounding starting pitcher restrictions. Pitcher limits are as follows:

65 pitches per game in the first round
80 pitches per game in the quarterfinal round
95 pitches per game in the championship round
Not pitch until a minimum of four days have passed since he last pitched, if he threw 50 or more pitches when he last pitched
Not pitch until a minimum of one day has passed since he last pitched, if he threw 30 or more pitches when he last pitched

These limitations make bullpens even more significant, starting pitching less so – at least early on. We should also see some piggybacking from teams in this tournament with the pitch restrictions placed on starters.

WBC Best Bet

As far as betting a side in the WBC, it’s difficult not to like the chalk. Japan (which has never finished worse than third) and the Dominican Republic are two of the top favorites and are clearly the most talented teams. Nelson Cruz is the D.R.’s general manager (and DH) and put together an absolutely stacked lineup that is better than some MLB 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 the D.R. roll out a lineup something like this:

And there are plenty of impact bats still on the bench.

As far as pitching goes, Framber Valdez was taken off the roster, but the rotation is still led by defending National League Cy Young Sandy Alcantara and another dominant Astros starter in Cristian Javier. 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.

Starting Pitchers

Relief Pitchers

And there are another eight flamethrowers in the pen. (You can check out the rest of the Dominican and WBC rosters at mlb.com.)

There isn’t some massive edge on the Dominican Republic at their current number. I’m betting on the favorite, and while I do believe they’re the most talented team in the tournament, this isn’t a large wager. It’s more about having action in the tournament on the most talented team, while I look for more betting spots game by game. I wouldn’t bet the D.R. at anything lower than +200.