We are looking today at both groups to preview the World Cup of Baseball, who starts tomorrow. There is no clear favourite in group A. However the USA, Panama, Mexico and host Chinese Taipei should advance into the quarter finals. Japan and Italy are supposed to surprise.
Some notes for all eight teams:
USA: The American Baseball Association did a good job by nominating several of the best prospects in baseball. Some of the youngsters, like Delwyn YOUNG, Andy LAROCHE and Jeff KARSTENS have already Major League Experience under their belt and should lead the squad. It is the best US-team in years. Their major question mark is the pitching staff, because the break between the Major/Minor League season and the World Cup is significant. So we do not know how sharp they are. They showed some promising signs in the preparation phase at the Arizona Fall League, where they won four out of six games against other prospects, which are mostly players from the Triple A level. They are one of the candidates to win this group.
Italy: The Italian team is forced to better their result of the European championship in Barcelona at the beginning of September. They did not reach the final round and finished in seventh place. After that, they changed the manager of the national team to get them back on track. Marco MAZZERI started training camp at the beginning of October. They played a tune up against the under 21 squad of Italy and participated at the warm up tournament (one win against Spain, losses against the Netherlands, Chinese Taipei and Australia) last weekend. Their roster is packed with the best players of the Italian Baseball League Serie A1. Several minor league players accompany them. If they get hot, they will have a chance to advance in the next round. They can win against South Africa, Spain, Chinese Taipei and maybe Japan. But it will be not easy.
Spain: The Spanish team tries to duplicate their accomplishment of the European championship (EC) in Barcelona, where they finished in second place. The World Cup is their major test, before the Olympic qualifier next spring. After the games in Taipei, they know, where they are ranked on the international level. The squad is in training camp since the end of October. They lost two warm up matches against the Netherlands (1-10) and Italy (4-7) at the World Cup site. These tests showed, that they lost some of the momentum, which they build up in Barcelona. It is really hard for the members of their roster, because they played their last meaningful games at the EC two months ago. Any win will be a surprise. They will have their best chances against Chinese Taipei, South Africa and Italy.
Chinese Taipei: The host had one of the most packed exhibition schedule in front of the World Cup. They played a five game series in Perth, Australia, where they lost three out of five (one tie). After another training camp at home, they hosted a warm up tournament against Cuba (2-6), Italy (6-0), The Netherlands (2-3) and Australia (8-7), where they did a better job. Nevertheless, it will be not easy to advance into the quarters. But with the home crowd in their backs (at some exhibition games the last days the attendance was about 10000), they could surprise and finish in fourth place in this group. You can bet on wins against Italy, Spain, South Africa and Japan.
Mexico: This team could surprise everyone. They did not play any test games against other World Cup participants. But most of the members of their squad are in competition in the Latin American winter leagues. So do not expect much rust. The team practiced in the Liga Olmeca in Mexico. You can expect a strong effort for first place and they should advance easily into the next round. Their biggest matches should be against the United States (first game on Wednesday) and Panama. Against the other contestants, we should suppose wins.
Panama: This also a team we do not know much before the beginning of the tournament. However they are one of the favourites to advance into the semi-finals or finals of the World Cup. They finished in second and third place at the last Championships in 2003 and 2005. Of course, there are not such icons such Mariano RIVERA on the roster, but the squad features some of the most talented prospects of their relatively small nation. Their biggest name is Angel CHAVEZ, who played at the Triple A team for the New York Yankees in 2007. He is one of several members on the roster, who have Major League experience. Sherman OBANDO, Earl AGNOLLY and Freddy HERRERA should also lead the team. The success depends on the performance of their pitchers Ricardo MONTILLA and Miguel GOMEZ. Panama is in contention for first place in this group with the United States and Mexico.
South Africa: It is difficult to project the performance level of the South African team. They are travelling with low expectations to the World Cup of Baseball and it will be a surprise if they can win a single game. Former minor league players like Paul BELL, Brett WILLEMBURG and Carl MICHAELS highlight the roster. Jared ELARIO, who starred at the age of 16 in the World Baseball Classic in 2006, is their most talented pitcher. Shannon EKERSMAN (College) is the only player, who is playing in the United States at the moment. Manager Rick MANGANTE highest hopes for a win are against Spain and Italy.
Japan: The current team is much different, than the one, who won the World Baseball Classic last year. There are no current of former American or Japanese Major League players on the roster. They nominated only amateur players, who are at University or High School teams in Japan. Nevertheless, the pool of talented prospects on their island is deep enough to be a significant force in this group. Their most promising pitcher is Hasebe KOHHEI, who can reach 94 to 96 miles per hour on the radar gun. Some members of the squad have international experience for several national teams, like Chone HISAYOSHI and Yoshiura TAKASHI. Team Nippon is in contention for fourth place in this group against host Chinese Taipei and maybe Italy.
Prediction:
- USA
- Panama
- Mexico
- Chinese Taipei
- Japan
- Italy
- Spain
- South Africa