JotCast | WBC Championship Chat: USA vs. Japan

WBC Championship Chat: USA vs. Japan

Jay Jaffe

7:01

Good evening, folks, and welcome to our WBC Finals chat!

Guest

7:01

Why isn't Japan starting one of Darvish/Ohtani? They seem clearly better than Imanaga.

Jay Jaffe

7:03

Ohtani started five days ago so guess they didn't want to mess with his every sixth-day routine, but he could pitch an inning in relief. Darvish... not sure, as the complaint has been that he hasn't been getting enough buildup here, but I'd expect he's good for 2-3 innings tonight

Kyle Kishimoto

7:03

i theorized last night he could get an early hook for darvish to burn some USA bench bats (ex anderson starting over mcneil today)

Ann Xing

7:03

Who are the potential relievers for the US team?

Kyle Kishimoto

7:03

maybe they don't want to use bard in high leverage, but the combo of williams/adam/bednar/pressly/ottavino will be great, with loup there too hopefully to deal with the 5 lefties stacked atop japan's lineup.

RTJ

7:03

Hooray! I was hoping to get a chat for WBC Finals

Alex W.

7:04

Davish hasn't been super sharp in his previous two appearances in this WBC (gave up at least a homer in both appearances). US hitters also isn't as familiar with Imanaga

Jay Jaffe

7:04

good points both, but i can't imagine he doesn't figure in here tonight

Dan Szymborski

7:04

Greetings people!

Jay Jaffe

7:04

DAN!

Kyle Kishimoto

7:04

Dan!

Dan Szymborski

7:05

Sorry, I had buffalo wing sauce all over my face so I was a few minutes late

Bob

7:05

Why isn't the game on fox! Feels like a lot of people will miss out because it's on fs1

Jay Jaffe

7:06

Lookgin at the Fox lineup tonight; Extra, TMZ, 9-1-1 Lone Star, The Accused — I don't know how you can cancel that Murderer's Row of Peak Television. (eyeroll)

Jasper

7:06

I'm paying $150 for MLB.TV, but still can't watch this game because I don't have a cable package. Enjoy the show everyone!

RTJ

7:06

Too many players got hurt during meaningless spring training games. If players are going to get hurt anyway, isn't there an argument to be made that it's better to play in highly competitive games with the pressure on and millions watching?

Kyle Kishimoto

7:06

if we stopped playing baseball because of the fear of injury there would just be no baseball, injuries will happen and they're of course horrible but the players wanted to play and yes the wbc is far more important than spring training

Dan Szymborski

7:07

Yeah, nobody cares about the results of all those spring training games. People care about this one

5 Run Homer

7:07

This opening thing is cool as hell, love the players walking in with the flags

Conor

7:08

Are you excited for the world to see Merrill Kelly's greatness tonight?

Jay Jaffe

7:08

Zac Gallen says they will speak of his Diamondbacks teammate Merrill Kelly alongside George Washington and Paul Revere, per @ZHBuchanan

George

7:08

AROD being so good at the pregame stuff while simultaneously being horrid in the booth is one of those things I can never get over.

Dan Szymborski

7:08

In the pregame stuff, he just talks normally

Alex W.

7:08

Imanaga is also one of the best NPB left-handed starters. Has a good fastball with strong spin

Dan Szymborski

7:08

but live, he really wants to try and fill hours with analysis

Kyle Kishimoto

7:08

yeah, Imanaga only sat 91 in NPB last year but averaged 94.8 in his shorter appearance in the prelims with plus carry. he's no slouch.

Dan Szymborski

7:08

but he runs out of things to say quickly during a game and tries to weave baskets out of mayonnaise

Liz

7:09

For anyone who doesn't have cable, you can watch on the foxsports website by using incognito browser windows repeatedly (the 'free trial' countdown resets every time)

RTJ

7:09

ARod or Smoltz though is a complete toss up for me

Dan Szymborski

7:09

At least A-Rod doesn't seem to dislike 90% of things he sees

George

7:09

If you had to make a super team to represent Earth against the Aliens in a galaxy baseball classic, whats your off the cuff lineup?

Jay Jaffe

7:10

I know Randy Arozarena would have to be in the outfield along with Betts and Trout.

Kyle Kishimoto

7:09

a-rod just says random stuff, smoltz seems to actively hate the game

Dan Szymborski

7:09

I might go with the aliens as there are a lot more non-earth planets

Overly Optimistic Angels Fan

7:10

How does Japan's lineup rank relative to the other teams in the tournament? They were impressive in-pool, but didn't exactly have the strongest competition. I've heard more about their pitching, while it seems consensus that Team USA is the #1 lineup

Kyle Kishimoto

7:11

i would go usa -> dominican -> japan, but those three are at the top for me

Jay Jaffe

7:11

Would love to have seen what ZiPS said about the various rosters at the outset of this but maybe that would have taken some of the fun out of it

Dan Szymborski

7:12

Problem is so many guys I don't have any data for on some of the countries. This would be a cruel thing to make me do!

RTJ

7:12

petition to remake the all-star game as US vs World (Or other geographical combinations)

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