The World Baseball classic may be the most underrated sports tournament in the world. Twenty international teams will clash in the WBC, initially split in to four pools in the cities of Taichung, Tokyo, Phoenix, and Miami. In 2017 USA took home the gold for the first time by beating Japan in the finals. In a 2017 semi-finals game, Baltimore Orioles star Adam Jones robbed a homerun from fellow Oriole Manny Machado, which was one of the most memorable moments in the tournament (for USA). If we get the same finals matchup this year as we did in 2017, we'll get to see Angels stars Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani oppose each other, possibly with Ohtani on the mound.
The Braves' Ronald Acuña expressed interest in wanting to play in the tournament representing his native Venezuela earlier in the year, but because of the ongoing rehabilitation of his surgically repaired right knee he was advised against it, until now. After seeing Acuña on the knee in the early spring, the Braves have changed their mind, and this is a good thing. Acuña will spend two weeks at Braves spring training before he reports to Miami, so if anything doesn't look right, they can always reverse course. And, as was discussed on "The Midday Show w/ Andy and Randy", he won't have to travel from Miami for the entirety of the tournament. Not only does pool B, which includes Team Venezuela, play all of their games at LoanDepot Park in Miami, but the quarters, semis, and finals are in Miami as well. In the event of a Venezuela early departure from the tournament, Acuña simply joins the Braves in Venice for the rest of Spring Training. The World Baseball Classic kicks off on March 8.