Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman Josh Harrison has been named to replace Matt Carpenter on Team USA for the World Baseball Classic.
Another player from the Pittsburgh Pirates organization was added to one of the rosters for the World Baseball Classic, which is scheduled to begin on Monday. Josh Harrison is the most recent Pittsburgh player to be named to the tournament. He’ll replace the Cardinals’ Matt Carpenter on the roster of Team USA.
Carpenter has experienced lower back tightness and missed most of July last year with an injury. He’s also moving to first base full-time after splitting time between first, second and third base last season. The Cardinals are glad to keep Carpenter in spring training to get treatment and to get more playing time at first base.
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
Of course, Harrison also missed time last year with a hamstring injury. In order to play in the WBC, Harrison needed medical clearance, which he received. Like Carpenter, Harrison has the ability to play multiple positions. Although he was almost exclusively a second baseman last season, Harrison has played third base and the outfield. He even played 25 games at shortstop in 2012. With Ian Kinsler and Daniel Murphy on the Team USA roster, Harrison will be a super-utility player, filling in where he’s needed.
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Harrison will join teammate Andrew McCutchen on the Team USA roster. McCutchen is coming off his worst full season in the big leagues. After being a well above-average hitter throughout his career, McCutchen finished last season just slightly better than league average, with a .256/.336/.430 batting line. Where he really hurt the team was on defense. Based on the FanGraphs’ defensive metric, McCutchen was the worst qualifying center fielder in baseball last year. As a result, Cutch has been moved to right field, with Starling Marte moving from left field to center and Gregory Polanco moving from right to left.
Marte and Polanco are also participating in the WBC. Both are playing on the Dominican Republic squad. A third Pittsburgh player, pitcher Ivan Nova, will be part of the pool of pitchers available to the Dominican Republic. Last week, Call to the Pen’s Jackson Bruce predicted the Dominican Republic would win the WBC by defeating Team USA in the championship game. If they do so, they will be the second repeat champions in tournament history. Japan won the first WBC in 2006, then won it again in 2009.
One Pirates player who is no stranger to the WBC is catcher Francisco Cervelli, who played for Team Italy in 2009 and will be on their roster again this year. At the time of the 2009 WBC, Cervelli had yet to establish himself as a regular in the big leagues. He had just five big league plate appearances before playing in the tournament. Seven years later, he’s a seasoned veteran ready to lead his underdog squad to upset victories. Team Italy is definitely not one of the favorites.
Next: WBC Preview and Predictions
The World Baseball Classic starts on Monday, March 6, with Israel facing Korea in the opener. The Dominican Republic team, with Starling Marte, Gregory Polanco and Ivan Nova, will open against Canada on March 9. Team USA, with the help of Andrew McCutchen and Josh Harrison, squares off against Colombia on March 10.