Extra Innings’ 2013 World Baseball Classic Power Rankings (Mar. 8)

These rankings are purely subjective and reflect Extra Innings’ thoughts. Only teams that have played will factor into the power rankings. We will update them regularly. Check previous editions here.

  1. Cuba (3-1): Got upset by the Netherlands, but their pitching is better than expected and their bats are legendary.
  2. Dominican Republic (1-0): Their lineup is otherworldly, and they might just have enough pitching.
  3. Japan (3-1): A good win versus a tough Taiwan may be what they need to get going.
  4. Netherlands (3-1): Another day, more honkbal magic in an upset over Cuba.
  5. Chinese Taipei (2-2): Unlucky versus Japan, and will have to rebound against Cuba.
  6. Italy (2-0): An even bigger surprise than the Dutch, Italy crushed Canada and beat México’s Sergio Romo in the ninth.
  7. Puerto Rico (1-0): Solid opener versus Spain, but tough test with Venezuela is next.
  8. Mexico (1-1): Upset the U.S., but might just be Adrián González and Yovani Gallardo.
  9. USA (0-1): Got stunned by México, but Gallardo is an ace on any staff. Come back tomorrow.
  10. Korea (2-1): Still smarting from their tiebreaker elimination.
  11. Venezuela (0-1): Overwhelmed by the Dominicans and will have to make a statement against Puerto Rico.
  12. Canada (0-1): Embarrassed by Italy, but the offence might save them.
  13. Brazil (0-3): Came awfully close to going 3-0, but bullpen did not have the depth.
  14. Spain (0-1): Shook off jitters after first inning against Puerto Rico, but will need some hits.
  15. Australia (0-3): Very poor showing for a ragtag group of minor leaguers with international experience.
  16. China (1-2): Could not hit at all (.146 average) and only had a couple serviceable arms, but got really lucky.

How would you rank the teams?

About Gabriel Fidler

Extra Innings UK covers baseball around the world, focussing on the sport at the national team level, with features on prominent players, scouting reports, and occasional breaking news. We are fully credentialled by MLB and have covered the World Baseball Classic, continental championships, and the U.S. minor leagues.
This entry was posted in Asia, Brazil, Canada, Caribbean, China, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Europe, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, North America, Power Rankings, Puerto Rico, South America, South Korea, Spain, Tournaments, USA, Venezuela, World Baseball Classic and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.