The World Baseball Classic starts on March 8th and will have 20 teams competing in 4 different locations.

The host locations are Arizona, Florida, Taiwan, Japan. The quarter finals will be held in Japan and Miami. The semifinals and championship will be played at Miami’s Loan Depot Park.

Pool A is Chinese Taipei, Netherlands, Cuba, Italy, and Panama.

Pool B is Japan, Korea, Australia, China, and Czech Republic.

Pool C is USA, Mexico, Colombia, Canada, and Great Britain.

Pool D is Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Israel, and Nicaragua.

The tournament first started in 2006 and it has happened every three years (except 2020).

The winners were Japan in 2006, Japan again in 2009, Dominican Republic in 2013, and the United States in 2017.

The former MVPs of the tournament are Daisuke Matsuzaka in 2006 and 2009, Robinson Canó in 2013, and Marcus Stroman in 2017.

The MLB has added multiple new rules to the game this year such as the pitch clock, bigger bases, and a ban on the shift.  However, the WBC will not be using these new rules as other leagues around the world have not implemented these.

The tournament should be competitive with all the great players playing.