Yahoo Sports It’s USA vs Japan in the World Baseball Classic championship. Breaking down the matchup
The World Baseball Classic championship is set. The United States and Japan play at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Miami’s loanDepot park for the tournament title.
Team USA is looking to repeat as champions. Japan is looking for its third title in five tournaments and first since winning the first two tournaments in 2006 and 2009.
Here’s a look at the matchup, which will be televised on FS1.
How Japan got to the championship
Japan is a perfect 6-0 in the tournament and has outscored opponents 53-16 in that span. They ran the table in pool play against Australia, Korea, the Czech Republic and China, beat Italy 9-3 in the quarterfinal and walked off Mexico 6-5 in the semifinal on Monday night.
How the United States got to the championship
Team USA was the runner-up in Pool C, rallying after its loss to Mexico by beating Canada 12-1 and Colombia 3-2 to advance to the quarterfinals.
A Trea Turner go-ahead grand slam fueled the United States’ 9-7 quarterfinal win over Venezuela before USA routed Cuba 14-2 in the semifinal.
Who will be the starting pitchers for the United States and Japan?
Merrill Kelly is in line to start for the United States while Japan is slated to have Shota Imanaga on the mound.
Kelly, entering his fifth MLB season with the Arizona Diamondbacks, started the United States’ pool play finale against Colombia. He pitched three innings and gave up two runs on four hits and two walks in that outing.
Imanga, who pitches for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars of Nippon Professional Baseball, has thrown four innings over two relief appearances in the World Baseball Classic, giving up one run on three hits while striking out five and not issuing a walk.
Who are the top players to watch on the United States team?
The USA’s lineup is nothing short of what can be seen at an All-Star Game: An outfield of Mike Trout, Mookie Betts and Kyle Schwarber (with Kyle Tucker and Cedric Mullins also options), an infield of Paul Goldschmidt, Tim Anderson, Turner and Nolan Arenado (with Bobby Witt Jr., Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil also options), and J.T. Realmuto and Will Smith catching.
With Kelly starting and Adam Wainwright and Miles Mikolas each pitching four innings in the semifinal against Cuba, look to Brady Singer to be a possible piggy-back option out of the bullpen. Devin Williams, Ryan Pressly and Adam Ottavino are the top high-leverage options.
Who are the top players to watch on the Japan team?
Two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani is the obvious name. He has taken Major League Baseball by storm as one of the league’s top hitters AND top pitchers.
But Masataka Yoshida and Munetaka Murakami are two stars in their own right. Yoshida hit a game-tying three-run home run in the seventh inning of the semifinal to give him 13 RBI through the classic — the most in a single World Baseball Classic. Murakami last season hit 56 home runs — breaking the Nippon Professional Baseball record for the most home runs by a Japanese born player. He hit a walk-off double to send Japan to the championship game.
Japan also has Lars Nootbaar from the St. Louis Cardinals, the first player not born in Japan to represent Team Japan in the World Baseball Classic.
On the pitching front, in addition to Ohtani, 21-year-old Rosi Sasaki and his near 102 mph fastball has been a sensation. Yoshinobu Yamamoto has been stellar in the tournament, too. The trio has combined for 33 strikeouts and just five walks over 23 2/3 innings.
