2023 World Baseball Classic rosters

Lore & Background

Each of the 20 nations in the 2023 WBC submitted a 30-man roster, with the requirement that at least 14 pitchers and two catchers be included. The rosters were announced on various dates: Panama announced on September 28, 2022; Czech Republic on September 13, 2022; Cuba on January 25, 2023; Italy on January 26, 2023; Netherlands on January 23, 2023; Japan on January 26, 2023; South Korea on January 4, 2023; United States on January 18, 2023; Mexico on February 9, 2023; Colombia on February 9, 2023; Australia on February 10, 2023; China on February 10, 2023; and Dominican Republic on January 18, 2023. Several teams—Taiwan, Canada, Great Britain, Israel, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela—announced their squads in 2023 without a specific date given in the source.

Reader's Guide

The 2023 World Baseball Classic rosters represent the player pools for the fifth edition of the tournament, which expanded from 16 to 20 teams. The rosters were critical to the competition's structure, as each nation had to balance pitching depth with position players under the WBC's minimum requirements. Notable managers included Mike Piazza for Italy, Yadier Molina for Puerto Rico, Ian Kinsler for Israel, and Mark DeRosa for the United States. The rosters also featured coaching staffs with former major leaguers such as Ken Griffey Jr. (hitting coach for the U.S.), Andy Pettitte (pitching coach for the U.S.), and Bert Blyleven (pitching coach for the Netherlands). The tournament was hosted across four first-round cities—Taichung, Tokyo, Phoenix, and Miami—with the final held in Miami. The rosters were finalized before the tournament began, with Japan replacing the injured Seiya Suzuki with Taisei Makihara on February 28, 2023.

Did You Know?

• Japan replaced Seiya Suzuki with Taisei Makihara on February 28, 2023, due to Suzuki's oblique injury.
• Panama announced its squad earliest, on September 28, 2022.
• The United States roster included Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. as a hitting coach.
• The Netherlands coaching staff included former major league pitcher Bert Blyleven as pitching coach.

Tournament Expansion and the Pandemic Delay

The 2023 World Baseball Classic was originally slated for 2021, four years after the 2017 edition, but the global health crisis forced a cancellation in May 2020. The qualifying tournament, initially planned for March 2020 in Tucson, Arizona, was postponed by Major League Baseball on March 12 of that year. It eventually took place in September and October 2022, split into Africa/Europe and Americas/Asia/Oceania rounds. The tournament itself grew from 16 to 20 national teams, with all 2017 participants automatically qualifying and four additional spots filled through the delayed qualifiers. This expansion brought the Czech Republic, Great Britain, and Nicaragua into the WBC for the first time, while Panama returned after missing two consecutive editions. South Africa, the sole African representative in prior tournaments, failed to qualify for a third straight time, stretching their appearance drought to 14 years since 2009. Brazil and Spain also missed out for the second consecutive tournament.

Japan's Undefeated Triumph and Ohtani's MVP

Japan claimed their record-extending third World Baseball Classic title by defeating the defending-champion United States 3–2 in the championship game held in Miami. This victory made them the second team in WBC history to win the tournament without a loss, joining the Dominican Republic's 2013 achievement. Shohei Ohtani was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player, capping a dominant performance that also earned him the Pool B MVP honor during the group stage. The U.S. lineup, which featured several distinguished players and drew significant attention, fell short in the final. The championship game was part of a knockout stage where Tokyo hosted two quarterfinals while Miami hosted the remaining quarterfinals, both semifinals, and the decisive final. Japan's path to the title underscored their sustained dominance in international baseball, having also reached the 2017 semifinals as one of the four nations whose pool placement was deliberately separated by organizers.

Record-Breaking Attendance and Global Viewership

The 2023 tournament shattered attendance records, drawing a total of 1,306,414 fans across all rounds—the highest in WBC history. The first round alone attracted 1,010,999 spectators across four venues, nearly doubling the previous WBC record. Tokyo's Pool B games brought in 361,976 fans, while Miami's Pool D drew 295,850. Beyond the stadiums, the tournament generated extraordinary television audiences. The Japan–South Korea pool match captured 44.4% of Japanese households and 11.7% of South Korean households, averaging 29.9 million Japanese viewers and 2.7 million Korean viewers. The Korean rating made it the second-most-watched WBC game in that country's history, trailing only the 2009 Japan-South Korea final. The Japan–Italy quarterfinal then broke the Japanese WBC viewership record entirely, pulling in an average 48.0% household rating and 38.2 million viewers.

Roster Rules and Pool Construction

Participating nations were required to submit final 30-man rosters by February 7, 2023, with WBC rules mandating at least 14 pitchers and two catchers on each squad. Pool assignments were announced in two stages: initial placements on July 7, 2022, and the complete picture after the qualifiers concluded. Organizers deliberately kept the four 2017 semifinalists—Japan, the Netherlands, Puerto Rico, and the United States—in separate pools, as well as separating the three host nations (Japan, the United States, and Taiwan). Remaining placements factored in WBSC World Rankings, competitive balance, and commercial and geographic considerations. The group stage ran across four cities: Taichung for Pool A (March 8–12), Tokyo for Pool B (March 9–13), Phoenix for Pool C (March 11–15), and Miami for Pool D (March 11–15). The top two teams from each pool advanced to the single-elimination bracket, with the tournament concluding on March 21.