Baseball's WBC = World Baseball Classic will start in March this year.
Japan will aim to win the championship for the first time in three tournaments, with Shohei Otani and Yu Darvish, who are active in the major leagues, and Munetaka Murakami, Yakult's triple crown champion.
The WBC baseball season will begin on March 8, and Japan will face China on the 9th, Korea on the 10th, Czech Republic on the 11th, and Australia on the 12th in Group B of the first round at the Tokyo Dome. .
Japan will aim to win the tournament for the first time in three tournaments since winning back-to-back tournaments in 2006 and 2009.
The 30 members of the Japanese national team have not been announced yet, but Ohtani of the Major League Baseball Angels has expressed his intention to participate, as well as Darvish of the Padres and Seiya Suzuki of the Cubs. increase.
Also, according to people involved, Murakami of Yakult, who hit 56 home runs last year, the most for a Japanese player in a season, and won the triple crown at the youngest in history, and Orix, who was selected for the "Sawamura Award" for the second consecutive year. 's Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Lotte's Roki Sasaki, the youngest pitcher in history to complete a perfect game, have been appointed to the Japan national team.
Coach Kuriyama Hideki, who will lead the Japanese national team, will announce the squad in January, and plans to hold a training camp in Miyazaki City from February 17th.
Expectations are high for Coach Kuriyama's skill as he will be able to bring together the players from various teams, apply tactics, and strengthen their unity.
Also, attention will be paid to how Otani, who is active in both throwing and hitting, will be used.
Many major league stars are expected to participate in this year's WBC, including Ohtani's teammate Trout as captain of the American national team.