My World Baseball Classic predictions 2023
Logo/Photo Credit: https://www.sportslogos.net/logos/view/181466502023/World_Baseball_Classic/2023/Primary_Logo
By: Evan Troxel
A little bit of history about the World Baseball Classic and then I will post my predictions for every single game of the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
The following teams have been in the same pool or group during the specific years mentioned to start World Baseball Classic (WBC) play.
In same group 2006 & 2009
Japan, South Korea, Chinese Taipei and China all in the same group in 2006 & 2009 WBC’s.
Mexico and South Africa in same group in 2006 & 2009 WBC’s.
Venezuela & Italy in the same group.
The United States & Canada in the same group.
Panama, Netherlands & Puerto Rico in the same group.
In same group 2006 & 2009 & 2013
Japan & China
South Korea & Chinese Taipei
Dominican Republic & Venezuela (2006 & 2013), Dominican Republic & Puerto Rico (2009 & 2013)
United States & Canada
United States, Canada & Mexico 2006 & 2013
Italy, United States & Canada 2009 & 2013
In same group 2006, 2009, 2013 & 2017
South Korea & Chinese Taipei
Japan & China
Canada & United States
South Korea, Netherlands & Chinese Taipei 2013 & 2017
Japan, China & Cuba 2013 & 2017
Cuba & Australia 2009 & 2017
Italy & Venezuela 2006, 2009 & 2017
Italy & Mexico 2013 & 2017
Venezuela & Puerto Rico 2013 & 2017
In the same group 2006, 2009, 2013, 2017 & 2023
Cuba, Netherlands & Panama 2006 & 2023
Netherlands & Chinese Taipei 2013, 2017 & 2023
Netherlands & Panama 2009
Japan & China (Every single WBC so far)
Japan & South Korea & China 2006, 2009, 2023
Japan & Australia & China 2017 & 2023
South Korea & Australia 2013 & 2023
U.S. & Canada (Every single WBC so far)
United States, Canada & Mexico 2006, 2013, 2023
United States, Canada & Colombia 2017 & 2023
Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico & Venezuela (2013 & 2023)
Dominican Republic & Venezuela (2006, 2013, 2023)
Dominican Republic & Puerto Rico (2009, 2013, 2023)
Puerto Rico & Venezuela (2013, 2017, 2023)
Screenshot/Photo Credit: https://www.mlb.com/world-baseball-classic
My Predictions for the 2023 World Baseball Classic!
Group A
Host venue: Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium, Taichung
Host Federation: Chinese Taipei
Local time is UTC +8 hours, EST +13 hours, PST +16 hours, JST -1 hour
My predictions to win listed after the details of each game/matchup
Cuba @ Netherlands, March 8, 12pm: Cuba (Loss, Netherlands 4, Cuba 2)
Panama @ Chinese Taipei, March 8, 7pm: Chinese Taipei (Loss, Panama 12, Chinese Taipei 5)
Panama @ Netherlands, March 9, 12pm: Netherlands (Win, Netherlands 3, Panama 1)
Italy @ Cuba, March 9, 7pm: Cuba (Loss, Italy 6, Cuba 3)
Cuba @ Panama, March 10, 12:30pm: Cuba (Win, Cuba 13, Panama 4)
Italy @ Chinese Taipei, March 10, 7pm: Chinese Taipei (Win, Chinese Taipei 11, Italy 7)
Panama @ Italy, March 11, 12pm: Italy (Loss, Panama 2, Italy 0)
Netherlands @ Chinese Taipei, March 11, 7pm: Netherlands (Loss, Chinese Taipei 9, Netherlands 5)
Chinese Taipei @ Cuba, March 12, 12pm: Cuba
Netherlands @ Italy, March 12, 7pm*: Netherlands
*U.S. Daylight Savings Time begins on March 12. Local time is EDT +12 hours, PDT +15 hours.
Predicted won-lost records
Chinese Taipei 2 wins, 2 losses
Cuba 4 wins, 0 losses
Italy 1 win, 3 losses
Netherlands 3 wins 1 losses
Panama 0 Wins, 4 losses
Cuba advances & Netherlands advances
My predictions so far: 3 Wins 5 Losses in Pool A
Group B
Host venue: Tokyo Dome, Tokyo
Host Federation: Japan
Local time is UTC +9 hours, EST +14 hours, PST +17 hours
My predictions to win listed after the details of each game/matchup
Australia @ Rep. Korea (South Korea), March 9, 12pm: South Korea (Loss, Australia 8, South Korea 7)
China @ Japan, March 9, 7pm: Japan (Win, Japan 8, China 1)
Czechia (Czech Republic) @ China, March 10, 12pm: Czechia (Win, Czech Republic 8, China 5)
Rep. Korea (South Korea) @ Japan, March 10, 7pm: Japan (Win, Japan 13, South Korea 4)
China @ Australia, March 11, 12pm: Australia (Win, Australia 12, China 2)
Czechia (Czech Republic) @ Japan, March 11, 7pm: Japan (Win, Japan 10, Czech Republic 2)
Czechia (Czech Republic) @ Rep. Korea, (South Korea) March 12, 12pm: South Korea
Japan @ Australia, March 12, 7pm*: Japan
Australia @ Czechia (Czech Republic), March 13, 12pm*: Australia
Rep. Korea (South Korea) @ China, March 13, 7pm*: South Korea
*U.S. Daylight Savings Time begins on March 12. Local time is EDT +13 hours, PDT +16 hours.
Predicted won-lost records
Australia 2 wins 2 loss
China 0 wins 4 losses
Czechia (a.k.a. Czech Republic) 1 win 3 losses
Japan 4 wins 0 losses
South Korea (a.k.a. Republic of Korea) 3 wins 1 loss
Japan & South Korea advance
My predictions so far: 5 Wins 1 Losses in Pool B (8 Wins 6 Losses in entire World Baseball Classic so far)
Group C
Host venue: Chase Field, Phoenix, Arizona
Host Federation: USA
Local time is UTC/GMT -7 hours, EST -2 hours, PST +1 hour, JST -16 hours
My predictions to win listed after the details of each game/matchup
Colombia @ Mexico, March 11, 12:30pm: Mexico
Great Britain @ USA, March 11, 7pm: USA
Great Britain @ Canada, March 12, 12pm*: Canada
Mexico @ USA, March 12, 7pm*: USA
Colombia @ Great Britain, March 13, 12pm*: Columbia
Canada @ USA, March 13, 7pm*: USA
Canada @ Colombia, March 14, 12pm*: Columbia
Great Britain @ Mexico, March 14, 7pm*: Mexico
Mexico @ Canada, March 15, 12pm*: Mexico
USA @ Colombia, March 15, 7pm*: USA
*Phoenix does not observe Daylight Savings Time. When it begins on March 12, local time will be EDT -3 hours and the same time as PDT.
Predicted won-lost records
Canada 1 win 3 losses
Columbia 2 wins 2 losses
Great Britain 0 wins 4 losses
Mexico 3 wins 1 loss
USA 4 wins 0 losses
USA & Mexico advance
Group D
Host venue: LoanDepot Park, Miami, Florida
Host Federation: USA
Local time is UTC -5 hours, PST +3 hours, JST -14 hours
My predictions to win listed after the details of each game/matchup
Nicaragua @ Puerto Rico, March 11, 12pm: Puerto Rico
Dominican Republic @ Venezuela, March 11, 7pm: Dominican Republic
Nicaragua @ Israel, March 12, 12pm*: Israel
Venezuela @ Puerto Rico, March 12, 7pm*: Puerto Rico
Dominican Republic @ Nicaragua, March 13, 12pm*: Dominican Republic
Israel @ Puerto Rico, March 13, 7pm*: Puerto Rico
Nicaragua @ Venezuela, March 14, 12pm*: Venezuela
Israel @ Dominican Republic, March 14, 7pm*: Dominican Republic
Venezuela @ Israel, March 15, 12pm*: Venezuela
Puerto Rico @ Dominican Republic, March 15, 7pm*: Dominican Republic
*Daylight Savings Time begins on March 12. The time difference to PDT does not change. Local daylight savings time is UTC -4 hours and JST -13 hours.
Predicted won-lost records
Dominican Republic 4 wins 0 losses
Israel 1 win 3 losses
Nicaragua 0 wins 4 losses
Puerto Rico 3 wins 1 loss
Venezuela 2 wins 2 losses
Dominican Republic & Puerto Rice advance
Second round (quarter-finals)
Quarter-final 1*: Pool B runner-up @ Pool A winner, Tokyo Dome, March 15, 7pm
Quarter-final 2*: Pool A runner-up @ Pool B winner, Tokyo Dome, March 16, 7pm
Quarter-final 3*: Pool C runner-up @ Pool D winner, LoanDepot Park, March 17, 7pm
Quarter-final 4*: Pool D runner-up @ Pool C winner, LoanDepot Park, March 18, 7pm
*If Japan or USA qualifies for this round, they will play in Quarter-final 2 and 4 respectively regardless of their position.
Quarterfinal #1: South Korea vs. Cuba, South Korea wins
Quarterfinal #2: Japan vs. Netherlands, Japan wins
Quarterfinal #3: Dominican Republic vs. Mexico, Dominican Republic wins
Quarterfinal #4: USA vs. Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico wins
Championship round
All matches in the Championship round will be played at LoanDepot Park in Miami.
Semi-final 1: Quarter-final 1 winner @ Quarter-final 3 winner, March 19, 7pm
Semi-final 2: Quarter-final 2 winner @ Quarter-final 4 winner, March 20, 7pm
Final: Semi-final 1 winner @ Semi-final 2 winner, March 21, 7pm
Semifinal #1: South Korea vs. Dominican Republic, Dominican Republic wins
Semifinal #2: Japan vs. Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico wins
Championship: Puerto Rico wins over Dominican Republic
3rd Place: Japan
I feel like posting what I predicted for the entire World Baseball Classic before I decided to make a few tweaks to it at the last minute, that actually did change a lot of things. So I will post that sometime tomorrow (Wednesday, March 8th, 2023) or in the near future.
A special thanks for the details to the following website to make this story possible: https://olympics.com/en/news/world-baseball-classic-2023-full-schedule-how-to-watch-live
