Just a week ago, USA Baseball announced the 30-man roster for the 2023 World Baseball Classic during a two-hour MLB Tonight show on MLB Network. While the roster has undergone a few minor changes since then, Team USA has put together a strong contender in the hopes of defending their title after the USA beat Puerto Rico 8-0 back in 2017 in the last World Baseball Classic.
The roster will feature 15 pitchers and 15 hitters. As it currently stands, the USA roster has 19 MLB All-Stars, 11 Silver Slugger Award winners, seven World Series Champions, four Gold Glove winners, four MVPs, three Rookies of the Year, and one Cy Young Award winner.
“Using the word impressive to describe the collection of talent and accolades on this World Baseball Classic roster may be an understatement,” said Paul Seiler, USA Baseball’s Executive Director/CEO. “This team is laden with experience, and we are excited to welcome Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt back for this year’s World Baseball Classic. We will look to them to lead a balanced group of USA Baseball alumni and newcomers as we look to bring home another gold medal from this event.”
Arenado and Goldschmidt return from the 2017 champion USA team along with fellow alums Daniel Bard, Lance Lynn, Kyle Schwarber, Mike Trout, Kyle Tucker, Trea Turner, and Bobby Witt Jr.
New York will be represented by four Mets players and one Yankee: Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil, Adam Ottavino, and Brooks Raley of the Mets and Kyle Higashioka of the Yankees. Yankees pitcher Nestor Cortes Jr. was set to participate but had to pull out due to a hamstring injury.
However, there will be a former Yankee great on the team as USA Baseball will have Andy Pettite serving as their pitching coach. He will be a part of a staff that features Mark DeRosa as manager, Jerry Manuel and Brian McCann as bench coaches, and the great Ken Griffey Jr. as the hitting coach.
USA will begin its title defense with first-round games as part of Pool C at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona. They will open against Great Britain at 9 p.m. (ET) on Saturday, March 11, before taking on Mexico, Canada, and Colombia on March 12, 13, and 15, respectively. The Pool C winner and runner-up will advance to the quarterfinals in Miami from March 17–18 and will match up against the winner and runner-up of Pool D.
The semifinals and finals will take place at loanDepot park in Miami from March 19–21.
So who will be representing the USA when the World Baseball Classic kicks off on March 11th?
USA Baseball Roster
Name, Position, MLB Team
Relievers
- Jason Adam; RHP; Tampa Bay Rays
- Daniel Bard; RHP; Colorado Rockies
- David Bednar; RHP; Pittsburgh Pirates
- Kendall Graveman; RHP; Chicago White Sox
- Adam Ottavino; RHP; New York Mets
- Ryan Pressly; RHP; Houston Astros
- Brooks Raley; LHP; New York Mets
Starting Pitchers
- Kyle Freeland; LHP; Colorado Rockies
- Merrill Kelly; RHP; Arizona Diamondbacks
- Lance Lynn; RHP; Chicago White Sox
- Nick Martinez; RHP; San Diego Padres
- Miles Mikolas; RHP; St. Louis Cardinals
- Brady Singer; RHP; Kansas City Royals
- Adam Wainwright; Brunswick, Ga.; St. Louis Cardinals
- Devin Williams; RHP; Milwaukee Brewers
Catchers
- Kyle Higashioka; C; New York Yankees
- J.T. Realmuto; C; Philadelphia Phillies
- Will Smith; C; Los Angeles Dodgers
Infielders
- Pete Alonso; 1B; New York Mets
- Tim Anderson; SS; Chicago White Sox
- Nolan Arenado; 3B; St. Louis Cardinals
- Paul Goldschmidt; 1B; St. Louis Cardinals
- Jeff McNeil; 2B/OF; New York Mets
- Trea Turner; SS; Philadelphia Phillies
- Bobby Witt Jr.; 3B; Kansas City Royals
Outfielders
- Mookie Betts; OF; Los Angeles Dodgers
- Cedric Mullins; OF; Baltimore Orioles
- Kyle Schwarber; DH/OF; Philadelphia Phillies
- Mike Trout; OF; Los Angeles Angels
- Kyle Tucker; OF; Houston Astros
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