The Pittsburgh Pirates will be well represented at the World Baseball Classic. However, that fact causes mixed emotions regarding the 16-team tournament.
On Saturday, it was announced that Pirates second baseman Josh Harrison would replace St Louis Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter on Team USA for the World Baseball classic which begins Monday and runs through March 22.
FoxSports.com senior baseball writer Ken Rosenthal made the announcement on twitter, followed by another announcement later on by the Pirates official twitter account.
Source: #Pirates’ Josh Harrison joining Team USA for WBC. #STLCards’ Matt Carpenter is player he likely will replace.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) March 4, 2017
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Congrats to @jhay_da_man on being named to WBC Team USA! #WBC2017 pic.twitter.com/SdPfX8AwFo
— Pirates (@Pirates) March 4, 2017
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
With Harrison joining the red, white and blue, he unites with teammate Andrew McCutchen on the squad coached by former Pirates skipper Jim Leyland. He also joins the likes of Francisco Cervelli (Italy), Starling Marte and Gregory Polanco (Dominican Republic) as Pirates position players participating in the international tournament. Prospect Eric Wood will also be participating in the WBC, representing team Canada as a position player.
There are plenty of reasons for fans to get excited about the fourth ever WBC event. I for one enjoy the event as well; however, I have developed some reasons to be less excited than usual.
Because of this, I have deciphered the positives and potential negatives behind the tournament.
Excitement behind WBC
In my opinion, the WBC event has always been good for the game of baseball. It puts some of the best players in the game on different squads representing their home countries and territories on a huge stage.
Plain and simple, these opportunities don’t come along very often and it’s fun to watch.
This year’s event will be even more enjoyable to watch for Pirates fans since Pittsburgh will have multiple representatives unlike the previous three WBC events. With the Pirates playing in a small market, not a lot of people get to see the type of talent fans in Pittsburgh get to see on a daily basis.
Fans in bigger audiences are familiar with McCutchen, a former National League MVP, but I feel as if guys like Marte and Polanco don’t get as much credit for the things they do. The WBC could be a perfect platform for players like them to showcase their skills and make their hometown fans proud in the process.
This year’s games are played in front of different audiences as well, which is also good for the game. Seoul, Tokyo, Miami and Jalisco will all host first round matchups while Tokyo and San Diego will host second round games. Los Angeles will host the championship round.
The World Baseball Classic has captivated the baseball world since it’s inception in 2006. The three previous tournaments – in 2006, 2009 and 2013 – have all been full of interesting storylines and quality baseball games prior to the start of the season.
It’s a good event for the game of baseball and something fans should look forward to.
Reasons to dread WBC
While the WBC is an exciting event, it does take players away from their teams during spring training for an extended period of time.
In the Pirates case, the time away could be cause for concern.
Cervelli is coming off of a season in which he had some injury issues and has already had a foot ailment during workouts this spring. Even Harrison had an injury issue last season as a groin ailment ended his season in September.
Though I’m sure their offseason preparation was helpful, spring training is also a crucial time of the year to get the body healthy for the regular season.
It is true that anyone can get injured in spring training, whether it is in workouts or in “meaningless” spring training games. Cervelli is an example of that. But the WBC does provide a more competitive environment where players are going all out in games that some would also call “meaningless.” Therefore, it might provide more of an environment where players could be more at risk for potential injury.
In another matter, McCutchen, Marte and Polanco will also get less time to get used to their new outfield positions since they will be representing their countries in the tournament.
This outfield switch has been one of the most talked about topics throughout the offseason. Marte is back in his normal position of center field, Polanco moves to left and McCutchen moves to the position Roberto Clemente made famous in Pittsburgh, right field.
There’s no doubt in my mind this move will work for all three players; however, the more time they have working on things, the better off they will be. Only time will tell whether the trio will get the chance to play their new positions for their WBC teams or if they will lose some time to get used to them by opening day.
Now, the WBC may not be a huge factor, but there is a chance it could affect overall preparation for the upcoming season.
All in all, the WBC is clearly a remarkable event that brings with it plenty of benefits to the game of baseball. However, it does have it’s downsides that can possibly have affects on the way it’s participants prepare for the regular season.
WBC Twitter Poll
As part of this column, I wanted to get some feedback on twitter regarding fan’s opinions on the WBC. And boy did I get the feedback that I wanted.
Just sitting here wondering what people’s opinions were on the World Baseball Classic. Are you a fan of the WBC? @pbcbreakdown
— José Negron (@JNegron_13) March 4, 2017
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Over 80 votes were cast and as I expected, there were a lot of people who have mixed emotions regarding the event as they likely appreciate the event, but know about the potential downsides.
However, what I didn’t expect was to see that 42 percent of voters said they aren’t fans of the event due to the fact that it hinders spring preparation for participants.
I am along with the 31 percent of people who have mixed feelings about the WBC.
There’s no doubt I’m looking forward to following along with the action as the event is a good way to promote major league baseball, it’s players and even the players in other major leagues across the globe.
But I also hope it doesn’t provide long term affects for the Pirates representatives, amongst others, and hinder their long term preparation for the regular season by taking time off from spring training to participate.
Let’s all watch, enjoy and hope the World Baseball Classic continues to be a positive event for the sport and that the game experience helps the participants in the long run.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
