In just over two weeks, the World Baseball Classic will get underway.
It will mark the first time this tournament has been played since 2017, when Team USA won the title.
This legendary event was scheduled to make its return in 2021, but due to COVID-19, it did not come to pass.
Fortunately, here we are six years later and almost ready for the return of the Classic.
Team USA is set to try and defend its title.
Unfortunately, they’ll be without two key pitchers in Nestor Cortes and Clayton Kershaw.
Still, they have a solid starting staff, as does Team Mexico.
On Twitter, MLB Network’s Jon Morosi made a key comparison between the two squads’ starting rotations.
México’s starting pitchers are similar in quality/depth to the U.S., especially with Cortes and Kershaw unavailable.
Team USA has 3 starters who threw 150+ IP last year with a WHIP under 1.200: Kelly, Mikolas, and Singer.
Team México does, too: UrÃas, Urquidy, and Walker.
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) February 20, 2023
Team USA and Team Mexico each have three solid starting pitchers who threw 150 or more innings last season and had a WHIP below 1.200.
Team USA has Miles Mikolas, Brady Singer, and Merrill Kelly, while Team Mexico has Julio Urias, Jose Urquidy, and Taijuan Walker.
In addition, Mexico has Los Angeles Angels left-hander Patrick Sandoval, who had an ERA of 2.91 last season while pitching against teams such as the Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners in the AL West.
They also have three pitchers who are coming off seasons of having made at least eight starts at the Major League level.
Javier Assad, Luis Cessa, and Adrian Martinez are those pitchers.
In addition to Mikolas, Singer, and Kelly, the Americans will also have veteran Adam Wainwright and lefty Kyle Freeland in their rotation.
These two teams are quite similar in terms of starting pitching, and a matchup between these two squads should be interesting.
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