Two of the frontrunners to win the World Baseball Classic MVP will face off on Monday night in Miami when Randy Arozarena and Mexico take on Shohei Ohtani for…
And it’s Sasaki who’ll get much of the focus in this one. The 21-year-old phenom burst onto the baseball scene after a 19-strikeout perfect game in the NPB last season. He pitched to a 2.02 ERA and 0.80 WHIP while striking out 12 batters per nine innings over 20 starts with Chiba Lotte last year. It’s expected he’ll be heading for the Big Leagues sooner rather than later.
He throws as hard as Ohtani and has a devastating splitter that’s been on display during the tournament. Sasaki struck out eight batters in just 3 2/3 innings in his only other WBC appearance. That said, this Mexico lineup may provide a little more resistance than Czechia. Mexico’s path here was a little more dramatic. An early tournament loss to Colombia had them on high alert, but they responded with a win over the United States. However, they followed that up by almost losing to Great Britain. So, it’s been a roller coaster, to say the least.Article contentbeen carried by the play of Randy Arozarena. The Tampa Bay Rays star outfielder is hitting .471 with a 1.
Mexico counters Sasaki with Patrick Sandoval, who was solid in three innings of work against a stacked USA lineup, allowing just one run on two hits while striking out two. The problem for Mexico is getting the ball from Sandoval to closer Giovanny Gallegos. The Mexico bullpen outside of Gallegos has been a bit of a mystery box.
Japan might have had an easier path to Miami, but this is the superior squad. Mexico should put up a fight, but Japan hasn’t had a game closer than six runs for a reason. With the run line at just -1.5 , there’s value in Japan to return to the final.Article content
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