What happened on the opening day of the 2023 World Baseball Classic?
By Bill Felber
The World Baseball Classic team that wasn’t
Cuban cleanup hitter and once-feared major leaguer Yoenis Cespedes walked twice and grounded out in his other two at-bats.
Aside from that sixth0inning outburst, the Netherlands stars didn’t fare much better. Bogaerts, the recently enriched shortstop, struck out twice and grounded out to complete an 0-for-4 afternoon, failing to advance runners in three of those four at bats.
Probably the most noteworthy aspect of the game was the number of current Major League players eligible to play for Cuba who (for one reason or another) did not join Moncada and Robert on the field Wednesday. That extensive list included, but was not limited to, Jose Abreu, Randy Arozarena, Yordan Alvarez, Nestor Cortes, Aledmys Diaz, Yandy Diaz, Adolis Garcia, Yasmani Grandal, Lourdes Gurriel, Raisel Iglesias, and Jorge Soler.
Cuba fans could only dream of what might have been had the team on the field Wednesday included Soler, Alvarez, Arozarena and Garcia rather than Roel Santos, Yadir Drake, Guibert, and Mujica.
Cortes had elected to play for the U.S., but was ruled out due to concerns about a hamstring injury. Arozarena opted to play for Mexico instead, and Abreu — who made his name playing for Cuba in a previous WBC‚— chose to stay in spring camp with his new MLB team, the Houston Astros.