2023 World Baseball Classic


The 2023 World Baseball Classic was an international professional baseball tournament, and the fifth iteration of the World Baseball Classic. It began on March 8, 2023, and ran until March 21.
It was originally scheduled to take place in 2021, four years after the previous tournament, but was canceled in May 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was later announced that qualifications for the Classic would start in September 2022, as agreed by World Baseball Classic Inc. The tournament expanded from 16 to 20 national teams, with all teams that participated in the 2017 edition automatically qualifying, plus four additional spots. Unlike in 2009, 2013, and 2017, the U.S. lineup included some distinguished players and attracted significant attention for the tournament.
Japan won their record-extending third title after defeating defending champions United States 3–2 in the championship game, becoming the second team since the Dominican Republic in the 2013 World Baseball Classic to win the WBC with an undefeated record. Shohei Ohtani was named the World Baseball Classic Most Valuable Player.

Teams

Qualification

In January 2020, the WBC announced that the 16 national teams which participated at the 2017 World Baseball Classic would automatically qualify for the 2023 tournament.
A qualifying tournament was scheduled for March 2020 in Tucson, Arizona, United States, to determine the last four teams. Twelve teams were split into two pools, and the top two teams in each pool would qualify. On March 12, 2020, Major League Baseball announced that the qualifying tournaments were being postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The qualification tournament ended up postponing to September 16–21, 2022, for the Africa/Europe qualifiers and September 30 – October 5, 2022, for the Americas/Asia/Oceania qualifiers.
The Czech Republic, Great Britain, and Nicaragua made their first appearance in the World Baseball Classic, while Panama returned after having missed out on two World Baseball Classic appearances. This was the third consecutive time that South Africa, the only African team, did not qualify for the World Baseball Classic, and the second consecutive time that both Brazil and Spain did not qualify. With Panama qualified for the World Baseball Classic for the first time since 2009, South Africa now has the longest active WBC appearance drought at 14 years, having not qualified since 2009.
RegionTeamQualification
method		Previous best resultWBSC World
Rankings
AmericasAutomatically qualified4Pool stage 14
AmericasAutomatically qualified1Pool stage 11
AmericasAutomatically qualified4Runners-up 8
AmericasAutomatically qualified4Champions 9
AmericasAutomatically qualified4Third Place 5
AmericasAutomatically qualified4Runners-up 13
AmericasAutomatically qualified as hosts4Champions 3
AmericasAutomatically qualified4Third place 6
AmericasQualifier 2 Winners2Pool stage 12
AmericasQualifier 2 Runners-up0None 17
AsiaAutomatically qualified4Pool stage 30
AsiaAutomatically qualified as hosts4Quarterfinals 2
AsiaAutomatically qualified as hosts4Champions 1
AsiaAutomatically qualified4Runners-up 4
EuropeAutomatically qualified1Quarterfinals 20
EuropeAutomatically qualified4Quarterfinals 16
EuropeAutomatically qualified4Fourth place 7
EuropeQualifier 1 Winners0None 22
EuropeQualifier 1 Runners-up0None 15
OceaniaAutomatically qualified4Pool stage 10

Draw

The pool draw was announced by World Baseball Classic Inc. on July 7, 2022. Organizers prioritized placement in separate pools of the four nations which reached the semifinals of the 2017 WBC and the three hosts. Remaining pool assignments were made based on WBSC World Rankings, competitive balance, and commercial and geographic interest.
Note: Numbers in parentheses indicate positions in the WBSC World Rankings at the time of the draw.
Pot 1Pot 2Pot 3Pot 4Pot 5
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Venues

Four stadiums were used during the main tournament.

Attendance

The first round of the tournament drew 1,010,999 fans across all four venues, nearly double the previous record for the WBC. This included 361,976 fans in Tokyo for Pool B and 295,850 fans in Miami for Pool D. Total attendance for the tournament across all rounds was 1,306,414, the highest in WBC history.

Team base camps

Rosters

Participating nations had to submit their final 30-man rosters no later than February 7, 2023. WBC rules required teams to carry at least 14 pitchers and two catchers on their rosters.

Officiating

On March 7, 2023, Major League Baseball and the World Baseball Softball Confederation released the list of officials for the tournament.

Umpires

Incorrectly listed as Ki Talk Park

Supervisors

The prize money allocation was released by Major League Baseball and the World Baseball Softball Confederation on March 7, 2023. Teams collected prize money for each stage they qualified in. The champions could collect a maximum of $3 million if they were a pool winner.
StagePrize money No. of teamsTotal
Champions$1,000,0001$1,000,000
Finalists$500,0002$1,000,000
Semifinalists$500,0004$2,000,000
Quarterfinalists$400,0008$3,200,000
Pool winners$300,0004$1,200,000
Participants$300,00020$6,000,000
Total $14,400,000

Group stage

Scheduled locations and dates are as follows:
Tiebreakers
The ranking of teams in the group stage is determined as follows:
  1. Win percentage
  2. Head-to-head record
  3. Lowest quotient of runs allowed by defensive outs between tied teams
  4. Lowest quotient of earned runs allowed by defensive outs between tied teams
  5. Highest batting average
  6. Drawing of lots

Pool A

Pool A was contested in Taichung during March 8–12, 2023.

Pool B

Pool B was contested in Tokyo during March 9–13, 2023.

Pool C

Pool C was contested in Phoenix during March 11–15, 2023.

Pool D

Pool D was contested in Miami during March 11–15, 2023.

Knockout stage

The top two teams from each pool advanced to the single elimination bracket. These games were contested from March 15–21, 2023. Tokyo hosted two of the quarterfinals, while the other two quarterfinals, the semifinals, and the championship game took place in Miami.

Bracket

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Final

Awards

Most Valuable Players

Group stage

PositionPlayer
C Salvador Pérez
1B Yu Chang
2B Javier Báez
3B Yoán Moncada
SS Trea Turner
OF Randy Arozarena
OF Mike Trout
OF Masataka Yoshida
DH Shohei Ohtani
P Shohei Ohtani
P Miguel Romero
P Patrick Sandoval

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