TOKYO (AP) — Japan completed the naming of its 30-man roster for the World Baseball Classic on Thursday. This includes St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Lars Nutvar and the Boston Red’s sox Masataka Yoshida.
Nootbaar’s mother is Japanese, but he grew up in California and does not speak Japanese. He played for Japan in his WBC, the first to qualify for his ancestry.
Japan announced its first 12 members last month. MLB players include Los Angeles Angels Shohei Ohtani, San Diego Padres pitcher Yu Darvish, and Chicago Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki.
Japan has won the WBC twice since 2009 and is managed by Hideki Kuriyama. Japan won his opening event in 2006. The Dominican Republic won him in 2013 and the last time he did it was won by the USA in 2017.
The World Baseball Classic will be held March 8-21 in Japan, Taiwan and the United States. There will be 20 national teams participating, with the Asian powerhouses being Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Australia.
Latin America includes the largest contingents in Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Panama and Nicaragua.
Entries in the US and Canada.
Japan will play their first match against China in Pool B at the Tokyo Dome on March 9. The top two teams in Pools A and B will meet him in the single-elimination quarterfinals on March 15-16 in Tokyo. The winner will advance to the semi-finals in Miami on March 19-20.
The final will be held in Miami on March 21st.
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Japan players with jersey numbers:
pitcher:
Yu Darvish (San Diego Padres) 11; Shota Imanaga (DeNA BayStars) 21st. Hiromi Ito (Nippon-Ham Fighters) ranked 17th. Ryoji Kuribayashi (Hiroshima Carp) 20th. Yuki Matsui (Rakuten Eagles) 13th place. Hiroya Miyagi (Orix Buffaloes) 29th. Shohei Ohtani (Los Angeles Angels) 16; Daisei Ota (Yomiuri Giants) Roki Sasaki (Lotte Marines) 14; Hiroto Takahashi (Chunichi Dragons) 28; Keiji Takahashi (Yakult Swallows) 47th. Shosei Togo (Yomiuri Giants) 12th; Yuki Udagawa (Orix Buffaloes) 26th; Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Orix Buffaloes) Atsuki Yuasa (Hanshin Tigers) 22.
catcher:
Takuya Kai (Softbank Hawks) 10; Yuhei Nakamura (Yakult Swallows) Takumi Oshiro (Yomiuri Giants) 24.
Infielder:
Sosuke Genda (Seibu Lions) Shugo Maki (DeNA BayStars) 3; Munetaka Murakami (Yakult Swallows) Takumu Nakano (Hanshin Tigers) 7; Kazuma Okamoto (Yomiuri Giants) 25 years old. Tetsuto Yamada (Yakult Swallows) Hotaka Yamakawa (Seibu Lions) 33.
Outfielder:
Kensuke Kondo (SoftBank Hawks) 8th; Lars Nootvar (St. Louis Cardinals) 23; Capital Ukyo (SoftBank Hawks) 9; Seiya Suzuki (Chicago Cubs) 51; Masataka Yoshida (Boston Red Sox) 34.
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