NEW YORK– We started out with 20 teams competing across the globe and now, there are only four remaining as the Semifinal Round of the World Baseball Classic begins tonight Sunday evening March 19th at loanDepot Park in Miami, Florida. Team Cuba and Team USA will go to battle with one team coming out on top and advancing to the Championship of the WBC. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 pm ET – broadcast on Fox Sports 1 (FS1).
Team Cuba is expected to start the 34-year-old left-hander Roenis Elías, who was born in Guantánamo, Cuba. “Elías is well prepared,” said Cuba’s manager Armando Johnson leading up to Sunday night. Elías previously pitched last Wednesday in Cuba’s 4-3 Quarterfinal victory over Team Australia, and allowed two runs on two hits across two innings.
Roenis Elías – Image Credit: World Baseball Classic/MLB
Tickets are already sold out for Sunday night, with the majority of fans representing and supporting Cuba in hopes of witnessing their home country reach the WBC Championship game.
“Cuban fans, they just want more and more and more,” Johnson said. “And that’s what we try to do, to give them more and more and more. From the very beginning we said that we wanted to change the face of Team Cuba.”
Team Cuba – Image Credit: World Baseball Classic/MLB
“We want more and more and then we’ll see the result on the field. We’re going to fight until the last out,” he added.
Mark DeRosa, manager of Team USA, announced late on Saturday night that St. Louis Cardinals Adam Wainwright is the go-to starter for Sunday’s Semifinal game.
“He’s pitched in every big game known to man,” DeRosa said about Wainwright, then continued discussing Team USA’s pitching depth. “We can cover it. I know we used a bunch of relievers, but we can cover it. We have some starters that can go. We’ll check with some guys with the potential of maybe going back-to-back days.”
Adam Wainwright – Image Credit: World Baseball Classic/MLB
In Wainwright’s first outing for Team USA on Saturday March 11th in WBC Pool C play against Team Great Britain, the 41-year-old right-hander struck out four, and allowed one run across four innings. Wainwright totaled only 49 pitches, and will enter Sunday night with more than a week’s worth of rest.
According to FanDuel Sportsbook, Team USA is listed as a heavy betting favorite over Team Cuba. The winner of Cuba-USA will advance to the WBC Championship and face the winner of Japan-Mexico on Tuesday night March 21st at 7:00pm ET – broadcast on Fox Sports 1 (FS1).
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Robert Rizzo is a journalist and co-editor of Latino Sports
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Blanca Canino Pabón
March 19, 2023 at 12:53 pm
The Baseball World Classic, seem to bring many people to see n enjoy the games like no other games. I hope next year, to attend these games as lation Sports has great articals of the games which makes u want to be there. Well since its close to the end n Puerto Rico n Dominican Republic out, let’s hope for Cuba to win and represent the Caribbean teams. Thank you Latino Sports for your great articles of 2023.
Julio Pabón
March 19, 2023 at 8:06 pm
Thank you for your comment. BTW the WBC is every 4 years.