The second round of the 2023 World Baseball Classic is underway and Team USA will play a win-or-go home contest against Venezuela on Saturday. Venezuela scored a perfect 4-0 and swept through Pool D to secure a spot in the Quarterfinals. The USA took a 3-1 lead in Group C to secure their place in the second round.
We are now in the single elimination portion of the WBC. The winner of Saturday night’s USA-Venezuela match meets Cuba in Sunday’s first semi-final. The winner of that game advances to the WBC championship game. You can see the full tournament schedule by clicking here. Now let’s move on to how to watch the duel between Team USA and Canada.
Team USA vs. Venezuela as you watch
Date: Saturday March 18 | Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
Location: Lending Depot Park (Miami, Florida)
TV channel: fox | Live broadcast: fuboTV (try for free)
Opportunities: open
Starting pitchers: open
to see players
Ronald Acuña Jr., Venezuela’s most dynamic player, had a relatively calm first round, playing 3-for-15 without an extra base hit. He also landed in three doubles matches, and one of his three hits was an infield single. Venezuela’s other two outfielders were catching up on the doldrums — David Peralta and Anthony Santander are 10-23 combined with three doubles, a triple, two homers and 9 RBI in four games — but eventually Acuña needs to contribute. He’s a breakthrough talent and Venezuela needs him against the USA.
Mike Trout went all out for the Americans, combining outstanding midfield defense with a thunderous performance at plate (5 for 12 with a homer, five walks and four strikeouts). Mookie Betts, Trout, Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado have hit in each game 1-2-3-4 in that order and they are a combined 17 for 55 (.309) with four doubles, a triple and a homer. The rest of the lineup was kind of a revolving door and didn’t really get going. Normally I’d say USA are too talented for that, but in a single game, who knows? The end of the lineup could make all the difference on Saturday night.
forecast
I had the USA eliminated in the second round in my WBC predictions and I’m sticking with it. Venezuela rolled through a difficult Pool D – they were three innings behind in their four games and never more than a run – while the USA put on a few uninspired performances in an underwhelming Pool C. For whatever reason, for Americans the whole was less than the sum of the parts.
Choose: Venezuela 7th, United States 3rd