I know this article is two days late but the two games that have been played so far turned out the way I thought they would, and most people thought they would. With the classic upon us, and 16 nations going for the crown, who is going to go all the way? I have my ideas, and I'm sure other people do as well, but here is how I see it. These are my predictions for the winners of the first round, which probably 90% of people out there agree with:
Pool A: Japan
Korea
Pool B: Cuba
Mexico
Pool C: United States
Venezuela
Pool D: Dominican Republic
Puerto Rico
This is the point where the competition will get tough. There are few scenarios that can go either way in the second round of double elimination. Round Two Winners:
Pool AB: Japan
Cuba
Pool CD: United States
Puerto Rico
The hardest decision was Cuba vs Korea. I feel Korea easily has enough talent to actually be a dark horse in this tournament. They won the gold in the Olympics over the summer and they play well. The only reason I put Cuba above them is because Cuba will play good fundamentals and they have a lot of good young players, that good defect from Cuba for the majors over the year. Another hard decision was the DR vs the PR. Due to all of the injuries that the DR has been having, I feel the core of the PR team will be able to push past them. Semifinal Predictions:
Pool AB: Japan
Pool CD: United States
As talented as Cuba is, the talent in team Japan will win overall and push them into the finals for second straight year. Same thing with the US vs the PR. PR has a very talented club but the US club really does look amazing on paper and they should get to the finals game to play Japan (as a side note, how interesting would it be to see a finals game of the US vs Cuba, just a thought). And the winner of the 2009 World Baseball Classic will be:
Champion: Japan
Overall, in the end, Japan repeats. I really want to say USA, and they do have a legitimate shot of making it to the finals. The issue is going to become pitching. USA can easily make it on their hitting alone, but Japan is going to confront them with some good pitching. I think the combination of Darvish and Matusaka might be a little too much to handle but its going to be a very close game and it might finally decide that age old question about Japanese pitching and American hitting in American ballparks.
The 2009 World Baseball Classic is set to begin. Find out the sportsbook odds and lines for the first round matchups, plus get predictions …Astros tickets