PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Imagine a star-spangled outfield of Mike Trout, Mookie Betts and Bryce Harper. Imagine a red-white-and-blue pitching staff of Clayton Kershaw, Madison Bumgarner and Corey Kluber at the start and Zach Britton at the end.
Keep imagining. As the fourth World Baseball Classic begins Monday in Seoul, South Korea, none of those superstars will be taking part. Nor will Noah Syndergaard, Corey Seager, Justin Verlander or pretty much any headliner from baseball’s marquee team, the Chicago Cubs.
Understandably, Major League Baseball will aggressively market the tournament, the primary international showcase for its business — which on opening day last year included 238 players born outside the United States. That number translates to 27.5 percent of all major league rosters, and it represents a record-tying 18 countries and territories. The figure has been above 25 percent every season since 2001.
Japan won the WBC in 2006 and 2009, and the Dominican Republic in 2013. The United States, a host for all three rounds every time, has played 20 games and gone 10-10. The .500 record is a fitting symbol for the seeming ambivalence of Americans.
Syndergaard was asked Friday whether he had any regrets about not playing for the United States in the tournament. He said no and explained, “Because I’m a Met.” He added, “Ain’t nobody make it to the Hall of Fame and win the World Series playing in the WBC.”
And when fans from the United States talk about baseball with one another, does anyone speak passionately about this tournament? With so many of the best U.S. players deciding they would rather stay with their teams, it sends a powerful message to fans: We don’t care, so why should you?
“A key to the WBC’s success is to have the best possible rosters we can have,” Commissioner Rob Manfred acknowledged in Phoenix last month, just after spring training began. “I think we’ve made real progress this time around in terms of the quality of the rosters.”
That is debatable, especially when it comes to the U.S. pitchers. In 2013, the starters were R.A. Dickey, Gio Gonzalez, Derek Holland, Ryan Vogelsong and Ross Detwiler. Later this week at Marlins Park, another first-round site, these starters will represent the United States: Chris Archer, Danny Duffy, Marcus Stroman and Tanner Roark.
Undoubtedly, all of those pitchers have talent. But this year’s group has combined for one All-Star selection (by Archer in 2015) and zero World Series starts.
Injuries naturally whittled the pitching pool a bit. Former All-Star Sonny Gray, who dealt with trapezius and forearm injuries last season, was denied a spot by the event’s insurance carrier. Max Scherzer, a two-time Cy Young Award winner, backed out with a finger injury.
Yet it is startling to consider how many healthy U.S. starters will not be going. Besides Kershaw, Bumgarner, Kluber, Syndergaard and Verlander, there are Jake Arrieta, Zack Greinke, Cole Hamels, Kyle Hendricks, Jon Lester, Rick Porcello, Chris Sale and Aaron Sanchez. That’s 13 healthy, ace-level pitchers who won’t be there.
The fragile nature of pitching distinguishes baseball from every other sport. The pitcher has extraordinary influence on the outcome of a game, yet his task is so physically demanding that his workload is severely restricted. You can swing a bat as much as you want, but throw too hard, too often, and you’ll wind up in surgery.
This is why teams cringe when their pitchers take part in the WBC. The tournament is a joint venture between MLB and the players’ union, leaving general managers out of the equation; they offer a thin smile, grit their teeth and go along. Expanding the game on a global scale is not their concern. Paid to build a team that can win the World Series, they shudder to see their pitchers exerting themselves in March for a different purpose.
This is why Verlander, who rediscovered his top form last season after dealing with a core injury, is out. He would like to pitch, but Jim Leyland, manager for the United States and Verlander’s former manager with Detroit, advised him against it. On a human level, Leyland understands it is most important for Verlander to stay in his comfort zone as he prepares for the Tigers’ season.
That explanation makes perfect sense; Verlander earns an average of $28 million per year to win games for the Tigers. Kershaw, who was injured for much of last season, makes even more to do so for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Trout has no health concerns; he simply declined for personal reasons. In weighing his options last year, Harper bluntly said he did not sense much excitement from other stars.
“I really just think if we have the support of all the players in the big leagues on the American side, then I’ll definitely play,” he told CSN mid-Atlantic. “I’d love to. Hopefully, we get some guys like Thor in New York and guys like that.”
And let’s face it: This event is not about the United States, anyway. Among many Latin American players, there is an endearing, authentic verve for the tournament. In winning the 2013 WBC, the Dominicans rallied around a lucky banana. They are stacked again, with Jose Bautista, Dellin Betances, Robinson Cano, Nelson Cruz, Jeurys Familia, Manny Machado, Starling Marte, Carlos Martinez, Gregory Polanco, Carlos Santana and Edinson Volquez. When Hanley Ramirez went down with a sore shoulder, the team replaced him with Jean Segura, who led the National League in hits last season. My goodness.
“It’s incredible,” Betances said. “I feel like all the top players want to play in it, which is pretty cool. I feel like you could make two teams with some of the guys who aren’t even participating. It’s unbelievable, that roster.”
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