World Baseball Classic 2017: Venezuela could win it all
Four years ago, the Venezuelan team had a difficult run at the WBC. They were eliminated from the tournament much earlier than they expected to be, to the disappointment of their country’s fans (and themselves).
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Now they’re back, and they’re ready to play. (More games than last time.) And they’ve got the lineup to do it. From top to bottom, Venezuela’s team is stocked with talented players who could help them win it all. They should have no trouble rising to the top of Pool D, and everyone should have a lot of fun watching them do it.
How much fun? Well, their rotation features Felix Hernandez, ace for the Seattle Mariners. And that’s just for starters. Everywhere you look, there’s a great player. Jose Altuve of the Houston Astros is at second. The Kansas City Royals’ Salvador Perez is catching. And Miguel Cabrera is playing in his fourth WBC and will be manning first. The WBC is one of the only times when you can get a team full of such illustrious players, and Team Venezuela has got to feel good about their chances.
Schedule details: Venezuela starts its WBC journey as part of Pool D. Its first game is on March 10 against Puerto Rico, and then it plays Italy on March 11 and Mexico on March 12.
’13 finish: Oof, it was pretty tough. Venezuela finished 1-2 and was eliminated after the first round. It lost to the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, 2013’s gold and silver medalists, but won one game against Spain.
Biggest stars: How do you choose the biggest stars from a lineup that’s this stacked? It’s hard, but it has to be done. Jose Altuve, Miguel Cabrera, Felix Hernandez, Salvador Perez, and Carlos Gonzalez all belong on this list.
Notable absence: There’s almost no one who isn’t on Venezuela’s team that should be. They did suffer an injury and withdrawal, though. Freddy Galvis of the Philadelphia Phillies, who hit 20 home runs in 2016, has a groin strain and won’t be competing.
Player you should get familiar with: Bruce Rondon, a reliever for the Detroit Tigers. He’s a 26-year-old hard-throwing right-hander who didn’t join the Tigers until midway through 2016. But when he did, he impressed by pitching 36.1 innings with a 2.97 ERA. And on top of that, he had 45 strikeouts, which is more than one per inning. Francisco Rodriguez might be the big name in Venezuela’s bullpen, but Rondon could easily steal the spotlight.
Do they have a chance to win? Oh definitely. There are shockingly few weak spots on this team. Their lineup is nearly unbeatable, and their rotation is led by Felix Hernandez. If everyone does what they’re supposed to do, they should have few problems dominating.
THREE BIG QUESTIONS ABOUT VENEZUELA
How important is Felix Hernandez? Pretty important, but he’s not the be-all end-all. They have two more incredibly capable starters. There’s Martin Perez of the Texas Rangers, who pitched nearly 200 innings with a 4.39 ERA. And there’s also Jhoulys Chacin of the San Diego Padres, who pitched nearly 150 innings with two different teams in 2017. Neither of them are nearly as flashy as Hernandez, but then again, who is?
What about their bullpen? Francisco Rodriguez is leading Venezuela’s bullpen, and he’s joined by Phillies closer Jeanmar Gomez, Los Angeles Angels reliever Yusmeiro Petit and Rondon. Gomez had 37 saves for the Phillies last year, Rondon had a great debut year, and Rodriguez had 44 saves in 2016, not to mention 430 total career saves. Their bullpen is going to be just fine.
Will they make it out of pool play this time? If they don’t, it won’t be because they’re not talented enough. Beyond the big stars, they’ve got the Phillies’ Odubel Herrera and the Atlanta Braves’ Ender Inciarte in the outfield, and they’re both defensively gifted. They’ve got Padres third baseman Yangervis Solarte and Milwaukee Brewers utility man Hernan Perez on their bench, and they both had breakouts in 2016. And on top of that, they’re playing in a pool that should be kind to them. While Puerto Rico is a tough opponent, Venezuela should have few problems against Mexico and Italy.
Also in this series:
— Australia
— Canada
— China
— Chinese Taipei
— Colombia
— Cuba
— Dominican Republic
— Israel
— Italy
— Japan
— Korea
— Mexico
— Netherlands
— Puerto Rico
— United States
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Liz Roscher is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at lizroscher@yahoo.com or follow her on twitter! Follow @lizroscher
