World Baseball Classic, Inc. changed the rules for the upcoming tournament including the introduction of a designated pitcher pool to keep hurlers in reserve for the later rounds. However Japan is only adding one pitcher to that pool with Yoshihisa Hirano. Manager Hiroki Kokubo even wouldn’t have added him, but they were under the impression to be obliged to add one. However unless an injury occurs there won’t be any changes to the roster of Samurai Japan. The team already had to replace Shohei Otani on their roster after an injury to his ankle. Japan is facing Cuba, Australia and China during the first round of the 2017 WBC at the Tokyo Dome.