Spring means baseball. With MLB catchers and pitchers reporting early last week, clubs have prepared to start playing in the Grapefruit and Cactus League at their respective locations.
The action kicks off today, as the Seattle Mariners play the San Diego Padres at their shared facility in Peoria, Arizona. The Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals also play Thursday at their shared facility in Surprise, Arizona. First pitch for both games start at 3 p.m. ET.
The other 26 clubs begin their spring training schedule tomorrow, kicking off their respective spring training slates.
However, a number of players will take a hiatus from their spring training games and workouts to join their countries for the 2023 World Baseball Classic, an international tournament where players from different ranges of cultures compete against one another. For the first time in six years, MLB stars like Mike Trout (Anaheim Angels), Shohei Ohtani (Anaheim Angels), Francisco Lindor (New York Mets) and so many more will face off for the chance to hoist the WBC trophy.
The WBC has been expanded from 16 to 20 teams this spring. All countries that participated in the 2017 tournament automatically qualified, while other nations competed for the four additional tournament opportunities. Great Britain, Panama, Nicaragua and the Czech Republic won the qualifiers and were awarded spots in this year’s tournament. The teams have been split into four pools for the first round. These pools are determined by location of the teams.
The first round of the WBC begins on March 8 and runs through March 15. Within the first round, each team plays every other team in their pool. Team USA will play Great Britain, Mexico, Canada and finally Colombia. The top two teams in each pool will advance to the second round, determined by their record in pool play.
The Championship Round will take place at loanDepot Park in Miami, FL. The winners of the Pool A/B quarterfinal will compete first on March 19, followed by the winners of the Pool C/D quarterfinal on March 20. The 2023 championship game will take place on March 21.
Fox Sports will broadcast the entire WBC tournament in the United States. Games will be aired across FOX, FS1, FS2, FOX Deportes, Tubi and the FOX Sports app.