The World Baseball Classic had so much of my attention last night that I barely even remembered that the Oscars were also taking place. That’s not a shot at the Oscars, because I actually think this was a pretty good year for movies and I would’ve liked to have watched; I just was really focused on baseball. I’m no bellwether, but that seems like a compliment to the WBC, the ratings and attendance for which have just been climbing and climbing.
WBC attendance2006: 737,1122009: 801,4082013: 781,4382017: 973,6992023: 1.12 million2026: 1.37 millionPretty good growth story …
Aaron Judge says the WBC crowds are "bigger & better" than the World Series:"It's been bigger. The World Series I was in. The crowd here, the crowd we had when we played Mexico. It's bigger & better than the World Series. The passion these fans have. There's nothing like it." pic.twitter.com/4WRBP7Xvt8
— Doug McKain (@DMAC_LA) March 16, 2026 Each of Team USA and Team Dominican Republic boasted one of the most loaded lineups in WBC history, but it was the pitching that ultimately ruled the day last night. Rare to see in the WBC, where pitching comes at a premium relative to position players, and very impressive. Maybe Daniel Palencia will close out another win for Team Venezuela against Team Italy tonight. Speaking of which, Mason Miller is now on another level above and beyond whatever it is to be on another level:Hitters are now 0-50 with 39 K’s against Mason Miller since September 8th pic.twitter.com/AIb6I8FZWY
— Peter Appel (@PeterAppel23) March 16, 2026 And the Padres might be chewing their fingernails off:Miller says his availability is TBD, but he’ll do “everything in his power” to be out there for the final. pic.twitter.com/ntITxGG0ze
— Aram Leighton (@AramLeighton8) March 16, 2026 The end of the game last night is getting a lot of attention for the lack of automated balls and strikes in the WBC, but Brad raises a good point:This will happen in a big game or ten this year and a team won’t have its challenge left. t.co/ydcWAIowsI
— Brad (@ballskwok) March 16, 2026 That is to say, we can’t assume that DR definitely would’ve had a challenge left at that point in the game. In an ABS challenge system, as MLB is going to this season, it’s still possible DR would’ve lost on that call, and we’re definitely going to see SOME games end that way this season. For some folks, it’s an argument in favor of full ABS, rather than a challenge system; for me, it’s actually an argument in further support of a challenge system. It makes the successful and strategic deployment of challenges that much more important. I like that. … well, for now. Ask me again in 12 months and maybe I’ll have changed my tune after seeing some horrifying ending for the Cubs. (One thing I don’t wanna hear about that final pitch is that it was “too close to take.” You can’t just transform your CORRECT understanding of the strike zone in an instant (against Mason freaking Miller, lol) because you fear the ump may get it wrong. That’s absurd.) For the second time in the tournament, USA manager Mark DeRosa – who has really been covering himself in glory – switched Pete Crow-Armstrong to left field late in the one-run game so that he could bring in Byron Buxton to replace Roman Anthony and play center field. It is a bizarro decision on both counts, meaning absolutely no disrespect to Buxton. You’re taking the best center fielder on the planet and moving him out just so that you can facilitate the (arguably lateral) bat swap from Anthony to Buxton. Even if you believe PCA can handle left field better than Buxton, is the net change to the lineup there actually any better? Is Anthony just absolutely brutal defensively in left field or something? If there were ever a better criticism of the Marlins:How is Miami not the biggest baseball market on earth? pic.twitter.com/4zEteGdUUz
— Jed ?? (@TigersJUK) March 16, 2026 Meanwhile the Cubs played the Dodgers in Cactus League action and Jameson Taillon got blown up again. There is a lot more to say about the Cubs’ starting pitching group after this weekend, but I’m going to discuss that separately. A number of the set relievers got in their inning of work in the game (Milner, Thielbar, Maton, Webb), but Corbin Martin followed with an appearance that saw him strike out two, but otherwise give up three hits and two walks. His velocity was down a bit, too, and although results don’t strictly make decisions – these aren’t real games and the samples are tiny – the Cubs may be able to carry only one non-roster reliever out of camp. Every little bit of information matters in making that decision, and this appears not to have been a good day for Martin. The Cubs are looking to add more parking spaces around Wrigley Field. The Reds have slowed Chase Burns’ ramp up for the season a bit, which isn’t necessarily an “injury” – they say it was a “range of motion” issue – but he might be a little more limited in start duration to open the season. Not what the Reds want to see after losing Hunter Greene for half of the season already. Not again for this guy:Brennen Davis has been removed from the game. He hit a groundball to third and jogged very gingerly to first base. It seems like he tweaked something on his swing
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