While we await the official announcement from World Baseball Classic, Inc. Japan moved ahead and revealed its 28-man final roster for the 2013 World Baseball Classic. It was already known that it is going to be an All-NPB squad, after all Japanese players which are playing in Major League Baseball bowed out of the 2013 event.
Reports from training camp weren’t encouraging. They lost 0-7 against a b-squad of Hiroshima Carp and players complained about the WBC ball from Rawlings. Before entering the tournament on March 2 Japan is facing Australia this weekend in Osaka in a pair of exhibition games. Japan has won the 2006 and the 2009 World Baseball Classic and will face Cuba, Brazil and China in Fukuoka during the first round.
Roster:
- Pitchers: Hideaki Wakui (Seibu Lions), Atsushi Nomi (Hanshin Tigers), Hirokazu Sawamura (Yomiuri Giants), Takeru Imamura (Hiroshima Carp), Masahiro Tanaka (Rakuten Eagles), Toshiya Sugiuchi (Yomiuri Giants), Kenta Maeda (Hiroshima Carp), Masahiko Morifuku (Softbank Hawks), Tetsuya Utsumi (Yomiuri Giants), Kenji Otonari (Softbank Hawks), Kazuhisa Makita (Seibu Lions), Tetsuya Yamaguchi (Yomiuri Giants), Tadashi Settsu (Softbank Hawks)
- Catchers: Ryoji Aikawa (Yakult Swallows), Shinnosuke Abe (Yomiuri Giants), Ginjiro Sumitani (Seibu Lions)
- Infielders: Takashi Toritani (Hanshin Tigers), Hirokazu Ibata (Chunichi Dragons), Nobuhiro Matsuda (Softbank Hawks), Hayato Sakamoto (Yomiuri Giants), Kazuo Matsui (Rakuten Eagles), Atsunori Inaba (Nippon Ham Fighters), Yuichi Honda (Softbank Hawks)
- Outfielders: Yoshio Itoi (Orix Buffaloes), Sho Nakata (Nippon Ham Fighters), Seiichi Uchikawa (Softbank Hawks), Hisayoshi Chono (Yomiuri Giants), Katsuya Kakunaka (Lotte Marines)
For a change a player is excited to play in the World Baseball Classic. Ross Detwiler was interviewed by the Washington Post. He will suit up for Team USA next month and is expected to take the mound for the team of manager Joe Torre on March 9 as a reliever. Also Jhoulys Chacin of the Colorado Rockies is looking forward to play for Venezuela. Meanwhile media reports from Canada indicate that Joey Votto indeed is suiting up for the Maple Leafs. At least he will be on the roster. Thanks to Pool D being playing in Phoenix, Arizona he can wait until the last moment if he wants to play. The Dominican Republic put free agent reliever Jose Valverde on the roster. Johnny Cueto got the red light from the Cincinnati Reds.