Cuba has arrived in Taiwan for their training camp prior to the 2013 World Baseball Classic. They will play a total of five games while being there before going to Japan for two more exhibitions. Today they squared off with Chinese Taipei. Tomorrow Australia will follow. Afterwards a CBPL selection (Feb. 21), Chinese Taipei (Feb. 22) and the Netherlands (Feb. 24) will be opponents. In Japan they are going to square off with the NPB teams of the Hanshin Tigers (Feb. 27) and the Yomiuri Giants (March 1). The first round of the WBC starts on March 2. Cuba is facing Japan, Brazil and China in Fukuoka, Japan. Cuba had released their final roster last week.
After long talks between Club owners and the organizers of the World Baseball Classic, Mexican League players got green-lighted to participate in the 2013 event of the international tournament. An agreement was announced this weekend, just a couple of days before roster will be finalized. With this cleared up Mexico should be one of the strongest teams in the WBC. They will be taking on Italy, USA and Canada in round one, playing in Phoenix, Arizona.
Canada’s pitching staff meanwhile suffered some losses this weekend. Jon Morosi of FOX Sports reported from Spring Training on Twitter that Ryan Dempster probably won’t commit to play in the World Baseball Classic. Meanwhile Nick Bucci of the Milwaukee Brewers, who already was a replacement on the Maple Leafs roster, also has been taken off the team according to Tom Haudricourt on Twitter.
Japan lost an exhibition game 0-7 against Hiroshima Carp. The pitchers of the defending WBC champion apparently still have problems adapting to the ball which will be used in the World Baseball Classic.