Not only was the World Baseball Classic a massive success, but it also featured Red Sox players as a main character in what felt like almost every game. So as our attention turns back to the more traditional 162 game brand of baseball, do any performances on the global stage change your outlook for the upcoming season (for either a player or the team as a whole)?
On the positive side, Roman Anthony looked as good as any hitter on Team USA until he struck out in the final at-bat of the tournament. This included a .920 OPS, a .400 OBP, and a game winning home run against the Dominican Republic.
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Wilyer Abreu was also fantastic, hitting two of the biggest home runs of the entire tournament. The first was his titanic shot that changed the momentum for good against Japan, and the second occurred in the tight final 3-2 Venezuela win. He may have even been robbed of tournament MVP, but that’s a different discussion.
Meanwhile, Masataka Yoshida looked great in his Team Japan uniform, particularly in the Tokyo games. His OPS in the five games he played in the WBC was a whopping 1.257, and he also had a massive home run in pool play.
Then there’s Jarren Duran, who even though he played for Team Mexico which didn’t make it out of pool play this year, posted a 1.412 OPS in his four games. This also included three home runs.
It’s funny isn’t it? These are all guys associated with the outfield / DH logjam, and they all performed well during the WBC.
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On the flip side, there were a couple of concerning outings in the knockout stage. The most obvious is probably Garrett Whitlock cracking in the ninth inning of the championship game after looking great in the semifinal against the D.R. It seems as true as ever that you have to spread Whitlock’s performances out enough to keep him effective, and, if you don’t, you’ll get burned in a brutal spot. It cost the Red Sox in the Wild Card series against the Yankees last October, and it cost Team USA in the WBC championship final.
Additionally, Ranger Suarez, who was the big free agent pickup of the offseason, got shelled in his game for Team Venezuela Saturday night. In fact, when you look at his line against Team Japan of five earned runs in 2.2 innings pitched and then note he was slated against Yoshinobu Yamamoto, it’s kind of a miracle Venezuela won that game.
So how are you feeling a week away from the Sox season starting now that we’ve got a small sample size of results in games that matter? Talk about this and whatever else you’d like, and as always, be good to one another.
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