It’s here! We’ve arrived at the World Baseball Classic Final and while one team was absolutely expected to be here, the other team is looking to cap off a dark horse run to a WBC title. Team USA was clearly one of the favorites to win this thing and they’ve held up their end of the bargain (outside of a Pool play slip-up that nearly eliminated them) by being the last of the trio of favorites standing — Japan tripped up in the Quarterfinals and Team USA took care of the Dominican Republic, themselves,
on their way to reaching the Final.
So the other team that meets Team USA in the Final is Venezuela. Despite having to take a difficult route to the Final after losing to the Dominican Republic in Pool play, here they are. Venezuela was the team that tripped up Japan and then they got here after beating a red-hot Italy squad in comeback fashion.
So now here we are: Will Ronald Acuña Jr. return to Braves camp as a World Baseball Classic champion or will the star-studded and star-spangled Team USA claim their first WBC crown since 2017? It’s time to find out.
Here’s the lineups for both squads:
First pitch is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. ET and you can catch the game on FOX.
Build Your Winning Bracket!
SB Nation’s CBB expert Mike Rutherford and resident bracketologist Chris Dobbertean will answer all your questions this week and help guide you to bracket glory! Drop in SB Nation’s March Madness Feed all week long and we’ll have both on hand! (All times ET)
- Sun 7-10pm: Chris Dobbertean
- Mon-Wed 10am-1pm: Mike Rutherford
- Mon-Wed 5-8pm: Chris Dobbertean
- Thursday 9am-12pm: Chris Dobbertean and Mike Rutherford
