Padres Make Noise On International Stage At World Baseball Classic

By Editor, Times of San Diego

March 13, 2023

The Padres are well represented in the World Baseball Classic, from Team USA to the Dominican Republic, Japan and even the Netherlands.

The tournament, which got underway this week, features 20 teams divided into four pools, playing in Phoenix and Miami in the U.S., and abroad, in Taiwan and Tokyo. The championship game is set for March 21 at the Marlins home, loanDepot Park, in Miami.

The U.S., part of Pool C in Phoenix, had its first win, over Great Britain, Saturday, and faces Mexico at 7 p.m. Sunday.

Japan, with Yu Darvish on board, has been dominant so far, at 4-0 in Pool B as the teams in Asia have been playing since the middle of the week.

Here are some of the top Padre representatives and how they’ve performed so far:

• USA – Nick Martinez pitched two-plus innings Sunday against Mexico, giving up three runs and five hits.
• Colombia (Pool C) – Nabil Crismatt pitched four innings, gave up three hits, one earned run and struck out three in his team’s 5-4 win over Mexico in Phoenix.
• Dominican Republic (Pool D) – in their opening game, Juan Soto went 2-for-5 with an RBI, but left five men on base, while Manny Machado went hitless in a 5-1 loss to Venezuela. Luis García pitched one inning and gave up a run. Nelson Cruz did not play.
• Italy – Catcher Brett Sullivan, in four games, is hitting .400 with six hits and four runs.
• Japan – Darvish, at 1-0, gave up three runs and a homer in three innings of work.
• Korea (Pool B) – Ha Seong Kim is hitting .167 in three games with two hits, but both were home runs.
• Netherlands (Pool A) – Xander Bogaerts is hitting .267 in four games with a homer, a double and one RBI.

Meanwhile, Team Israel, playing in Pool D in Miami, has Padre connections and a local link.

Former Major Leaguer Ian Kinsler – who retired as a Padre and worked in the team’s front office until he departed for the Texas Rangers in February – is managing the club, while Brad Ausmus, who started his career as a Padre, is one of the team’s bench coaches.

In addition, former UC San Diego standout Schlomo Lipetz is pitching for Israel.

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