China vs. Japan in World Baseball Classic 2023
All eyes in Japan are on the Tokyo Dome as Team Japan – perhaps the strongest team in the tournament – begins its pursuit of its third World Baseball Classic championship. Japan start against China, who went winless at the 2017 tournament but will be hoping to surprise the world with one of the biggest upsets possible.
Here’s everything you need to know about the match:
When and where: Now at the Tokyo Dome
How to watch: The match between China and Japan is live on FS1.
Games are available on FOX, FS1, FS2, Tubi or FOX Deportes and every game can be streamed online on the FOX Sports app. For international viewing options, click here.
How you can listen: Live audio coverage of all games will be carried on Sirius XM, TuneIn, MLB.com and the MLB app.
What’s at stake: The 20 teams are drawn into four five-team groups for the first round of the 2023 World Baseball Classic, with each team playing the others once in their pool and the teams with the two best records in each pool in the end of this round moving to the elimination phase. Japan and China are in Group B with Korea, Australia and the Czech Republic.
Match history: Japan and China have met in every previous World Baseball Classic, with Japan taking each contest. Japan has outscored China 37-5 in those games.
Shohei Ohtani: Not only will Ohtani suit up for his first World Baseball Classic, but he’ll also wear the rubber. He’s already shown his power, smashing two home runs in an exhibition game in Osaka on Monday, and now he’ll get to show off his Cy Young-caliber ball with the world watching.
Munetaka Murakami: The power-hitting third baseman is coming off a record-breaking season, hitting 56 home runs to break Sadaharu Oh’s single-season mark for a Japanese-born player in Nippon Professional Baseball. With China’s pitching staff likely to be the weakest in the pool, it can party with a lot of power in this pool.
Xiang Wang: China’s starting pitcher team to start the tournament, Wang won the silver medal in the National Championship in 2019. He was also named the 2021 National Championship Champion and won the bronze medal in 2022. Although he is a member of the Shanghai Eagles, the League The Chinese National Baseball Team has been shut down since 2019 due to COVID-19.
Ray Chang: Team China’s biggest star is back for his fourth World Baseball Classic. The 39-year-old is now taking on coaching duties as well, and has even helped recruit the likes of Angels Minor Leaguer Alan Carter. He drove in the only race in the 2017 tournament. He retired after that WBC, but when he was given the opportunity to play again, he couldn’t resist the opportunity.
