2023 World Baseball Classic: Great Britain team roster | Ford, Thompson, Koperniak, Murray
Here’s how Team Great Britain’s roster will look for the 2023 World Baseball Classic held from March 8 to March 21.
Great Britain have named their squad for their first ever appearance at the World Baseball Classic (WBC) next month. Via a win over Spain in their final qualifying match back in September, the Brits are looking to make a strong showing in this their maiden voyage, rather than simply make up numbers. Needless to say, it’s going to be a tall order with some of the opposition they’ll have to face in Pool C, namely heavyweights USA and Canada with Mexico and Colombia bringing up the rear. All games will be played at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona.
Team Grat Britain 2023 World Baseball Classic roster
Coaching Staff
- Head coach: Drew Spencer
- Bench Coach: Brad Marcelino
- Bench coach: Antoan Richardson
- Associate Hitting Coach: Jonathon Cramman
- Pitching Coach: Zach Graefser
- First Base Coach: Albert Cartwright
- Third Base Coach: TS Reed
- Bullpen Coach: Conor Brooks
Pitchers
- Donovan Benoit
- Malik Binns
- Richard Brereton
- Daniel Cooper
- Jake Esch
- Chavez Fernander
- Ian Gibaut
- Gunnar Groen
- Joseph King
- Ryan Long
- McKenzie Mills
- Akeel Morris
- Branden Noriega
- Cam Opp
- Michael Petersen
- Chris Reed
- Michael Roth
- Andre Scrubb
- Jack Seppings
- Matteo Sollecito
- Graham Spraker
- Tahnaj Thomas
- Tyler Viza
- Alex Webb
- Vance Worley
Catchers
- Ural Forbes
- Harry Ford
Infielders
- Lucius Fox
- B.J. Murray
- Nick Ward
- Justin Wylie
Outfielders
- Alex Crosby
- D’Shawn Knowles
- Matt Koperniak
- Andernee Seymour
- Darnell Sweeney
- Trayce Thompson
- Chavez Young
What to expect from Great Britain?
In truth, this is likely to be a baptism of fire for the Brits in their first ever appearance. There is of course, a handful of MLB based talent on the team such as MLB’s 49th-ranked prospect in all of the Minor Leagues, Harry Ford, as well as the Dodgers’ Trayce Thompson and the Reds’ Ian Gibaut, but the team has been rocked by the slow recovery of its biggest star, Jazz Chisolm. Indeed, Chisolm will now miss the tournament after the Marlins refused to allow him to participate. Ultimately, team Great Britain is going to have to hit the ground running in Phoenix if they hope to make it out of the first round.