Who are the top pitchers in the history of the World Baseball Classic? Full list
In baseball, pitching rotation is key, and the World Baseball Classic is no different. We look at the best pitchers in the competition’s history
When you look at the chances of a nation to win the World Baseball Classic trophy, one of the highest considerations is the quality of the pitching rotation. Several teams have some tasty prospects for the tournament, with the arms available to them generally of the outstanding variety.
Probably top among them would have to be Japan, who have Shohei Ohtani, Yu Darvish, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Roki Sasaki, and Shota Imanaga in their stable. Japan is also where the tournament’s historical strikeout king is from, with Daisuke Matsuzaka levelling 23 batters, although countryman Yu Darvish and Dominican Edinson Volquez are both nipping at his heels with 20 each.
Team Dominican Republic enters this competition with a bullpen almost as exciting as Japan’s, with Sandy Alcantara, Cristian Javier, Johnny Cueto, and Roansy Contreras on board. Back in 2013, when the Dominican’s went undefeated and swept the board on their way to the title, Fernando Rodney managed to pick up eight saves, which still stands as the WBC record. The nearest competition to him is Fernando Cabrera from Puerto Rico and Venezuela’s Francisco Rodriguez who have five apiece.
Venezuela’s rotation is as good as any that you will see, with Pablo Lopez, Martin Perez, Eduardo Rodriguez, Luis Garcia, German Marquez, and Carlos Hernandez in the lineup. Apart from his impressive strikeout record, Edinson Volquez also shares the record for starts with Daisuke Matsuzaka at six, collected across the 2009, 2013, and 2017 competitions. Just behind him are two Dutch pitchers in Diegomar Markwell and Rick Van Den Hurk who have five each.
Diegomar also has the distinction of being the pitcher who has thrown the most innings at 28, which in a competition that institutes strict controls on pitches thrown is pretty impressive.
Another record that Daisuke Matsuzaka holds in the competitions is for wins, perhaps the true test of quality pitching. With six to his name, Matsuzaka is double any other pitcher in the tournament’s history.