Analysis: Team USA has its best team ever in this tournament. They will also be run by a very strong and respected manager in Jim Leyland. This team was put together based on the idea Team USA has not fared well and needs to put their best foot forward. The assembled team is a plethora of All-Stars who can hit and play defense. The ONLY question on this team is starting pitching.
The roster has these players on it. Catchers are Lucroy and Posey, 1B are Goldschmidt and Hosmer, 2B Kinsler and Murphy, SS Crawford, 3B Arenado and Bregman, Carpenter can play 1B or 3B. The OFs are McCutchen, Jones, Stanton and Yelich. This team can hit!
The starting pitchers are Archer, Stroman, Roark and Duffy. There is no Cy Young winner but they are all number 1’s except for Roark and he had an ERA under 3.00 last season. They will benefit from solid relief pitching. It will be bolstered by Andrew Miller! It will also have Robertson, Neshek, Gregorson, Clippard, Dyson, Givens and Jones.
They are in Pool C with a home field advantage. The Pool C games are being played in Miami at Marlins Park. They are paired with Canada, Colombia and Dominican Republic. Two teams come out of each pool and Pool C should see Team USA and DR advance. DR are the second favorites in this tournament. They have Cueto as the main pitcher, but the starters are not as strong as the USA has. They have a strong infield with Machado but will be minus Beltre (hamstring). They have strong OF led by Marte. Even though they are strong, TEAM USA is better.
Team Japan is probably the 3rd best team in the tournament and has always played well. The finals should have them in it.
The action starts March 6th in Korea. Pool C action begins March 9th and TEAM USA sees their first game on March 10th.
