If you are a baseball fan and can’t wait for the start of the MLB, this is a good opportunity to watch some fun baseball while waiting for that. The last event was canceled due to the pandemic, but we are back for a strong tournament between some very good teams. This year’s event will be held across three different countries over the course of two weeks.
The World Baseball Classic is some kind of World Cup for national baseball teams. This event is held in three countries for this year’s edition of the WBC. Japan, Taiwan, and the United States will all have games played on their grounds, while the final will be played at LoanDepot Park in the USA.
There are 20 countries participating in this event, and those 20 teams are split into four pools, with every pool containing five teams. You can qualify for the quarterfinals by finishing in the top two places in your group. The event will be played over two weeks and will feature a lot of known baseball players from the MLB.
| Tournament: | 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC) |
| Venues: | Venues across Japan, Taiwan, and the United States |
| Dates: | 8 March – 21 March 2023 |
Here’s a look at the odds to win the World Baseball Classic 2023 from the best baseball betting sites:
As shown in the odds, the tournament is expected to be between the Dominican Republic, Japan, and the United States. All of these teams have a great roster and will give their best to win it all. It’s worth noting that the United States would be higher on the list of favorites if it weren’t for their pitching problem, as they are missing a lot of key pitchers due to injury.
Japan is the most successful nation in this tournament and will try to win their third title, while the Dominican Republic is the team with the most talent and known players from the MLB.
Many sportsIn-play modeLive streamingWelcome offersLive streamingMany bonuses25+ sportsSuperb bonusesEasy to useVIP programLive gamesMany bonusesMany bonuses24/7 supportMobile appsAfter the removal of baseball as an Olympic sport in 2005, the World Baseball Classic was created the following year and has grown worldwide over the years. The World Baseball Classic used to only have 16 teams in past versions, but it has increased to 20 countries this year. This WBC edition was supposed to be held in 2021 but was postponed due to the pandemic.
This will be the fifth edition of the World Baseball Classic. Japan won the first two tournaments, the Dominican Republic won the third, and lastly, the United States won the last event held in 2017. The Czech Republic, Great Britain, and Nicaragua will play their first-ever World Baseball Classic tournament. This year’s edition has a lot of balanced rosters, and any team can win it.
| Pool A Participants | Group Stage Prediction |
|---|---|
| Cuba | 1st |
| Italy | 2nd |
| Netherlands | 3rd |
| Chinese Taipei | 4th |
| Panama | 5th |
This is one of the less competitive groups in the whole tournament, only Cuba will have a shot at reaching the top four. Cuba is almost guaranteed to qualify for the quarterfinals from this group despite having not so many MLB stars.
Netherlands and Italy will fight for that second qualifying spot here, and we predict Italy to take that spot, even though the Netherlands are the second favorites in the group, but there’s a good value on Italy at 2.3 (13/10) to qualify from this group, alongside Cuba at 1.35 (7/20). Chinese Taipei and Panama are less likely to qualify.
| Pool B Participants | Group Stage Prediction |
|---|---|
| Japan | 1st |
| South Korea | 2nd |
| Australia | 3rd |
| China | 4th |
| Czech Republic | 5th |
The winners from this group pretty much pick themselves. Japan is going to win this group and go to the quarterfinals, and right behind them should be South Korea. Both have players from MLB teams like Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres, and for a good reason.
The odds on Japan and South Korea qualifying from this group are not worth playing, their odds are like 1.1 (1/10) to qualify, but you can bet on them going further in the tournament, especially Japan. Australia is the only team that can upset either Japan or South Korea in this group, but it’s pretty unlikely.
| Pool C Participants | Group Stage Prediction |
|---|---|
| United States | 1st |
| Mexico | 2nd |
| Canada | 3rd |
| Colombia | 4th |
| Great Britain | 5th |
The United States is the clear favorite to win this group and should take first place with no trouble. They have a lot of star power from the MLB with no need to attract guys from NCAA, and they are the current champions.
Mexico is the second favorite to qualify after the USA, but Canada and Colombia might pull off the upset if Mexico isn’t at their best. We will be going with the USA and Mexico to qualify from this group.
| Pool D Participants | Group Stage Predictiom |
|---|---|
| Dominican Republic | 1st |
| Venezuela | 2nd |
| Puerto Rico | 3rd |
| Nicaragua | 4th |
| Israel | 5th |
This is the most competitive group in the World Baseball Classic tournament this year. The Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and Puerto Rico are all top five favorites to win the event.
The Dominican Republic is stacked with talented players like Manny Machado and should get first place in this group, while Venezuela and Puerto Rico will fight for that second qualifying spot. We will go with Venezuela to qualify alongside the Dominican Republic team in this group.
The Japanese team has been the most successful in the history of this tournament. Japan has won two of the four events, and then they came third in the last two editions. They have never been outside the semifinals, and they have a very good team to do it again this year.
Shohei Ohtani, the Los Angeles Angels star, is the best player on the team, and he is expected to be the best player in the whole tournament. Yu Darvish of the San Diego Padres is another Japanese player who can help the team win. Masataka Yoshida of the Boston Red Sox is also a good addition to the team.
The Dominican Republic has grown so much lately as a baseball nation. They arguably have the most talented team in this event, and their roster contains veterans like Nelson Cruz, a seven-time All-Star player, and Robinson Cano, an eight-time All-Star player and previous MLB’s MVP.
They also have a lot of great MLB players like Juan Soto, Sandy Alcantara, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Manny Machado, and Jose Ramirez. This team is guaranteed to go to the semifinals at least, and it will be a disappointment for them not to reach the final and win it with this roster.
This is a high prediction and a long shot for the Venezuelan team. This team has the potential to upset a lot of teams and will have a good performance based on their roster. Superstar Miguel Cabrera will have some great players like Jose Altuve, Ronald Acuna Jr., and Salvador Perez alongside him to try and win the event.
Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers is the best player on the team, he has won the MVP award twice and is also a twelve-time All-Star. Having also free agents of caliber like Hernan Perez, former player of the teams like Detroit Tigers, Chicago Cubs, and Milwaukee Brewers, this team hardly losses to the US one in terms of squad level.
As mentioned earlier, the Venezuelan team can win the whole event, so we think they will qualify from their group. Venezuela is in Group D, which is by far the hardest and most competitive. The Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico will be competing for this group too, but Puerto Rico has not been as good as Venezuela recently, so we will be going with Venezuela to advance from this group.
Cuba is the clear favorite in this group, and they should get a first place if they perform at their best level. Italy and the Netherlands are the only threats to them. The Cuban team has Yordan Alvarez of the Houston Astros, and he had one of his best years in 2022 with the team. Yordan, Jose Abreu, and Yuli Gurriel can cause problems for the other teams in the group.
The World Baseball Classic is finally back after nearly six years since the last edition. A lot of MLB stars will be playing, and it should be a fun event to watch. The Dominican Republic or Japan are our WBC 5th edition predictions. Make sure to use our baseball predictions and special betting bonuses and be alert to the live betting opportunities.
