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Tuesday night World Baseball Classic open thread: DR, PR, Netherlands, Cuba

The Orioles weren’t on TV today, but you’ll be able to watch a few Orioles in the World Baseball Classic tonight.

By Mark Brown
World Baseball Classic - Pool C - Game 5 - Dominican Republic v Columbia Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

Snow and baseball don’t really get along together, but fortunately for all of us, there’s no snow in San Diego, where the next round of the World Baseball Classic will get underway at 9pm tonight for the Dominican Republic team that has Orioles Manny Machado and Welington Castillo in its ranks.

Later in the night, on the other side of the world, the Kingdom of the Netherlands team with Jonathan Schoop on board will be playing its third and final game of the second round, needing a win to guarantee a chance to advance to the semifinals. The game will start at 11pm Eastern, which is noon on Wednesday in Tokyo time. They play Cuba, with a win against Israel and a loss to Japan on their ledger already.

It’s kind of strange and also a lot of fun rooting for Orioles players in games like this. Maybe you just want their teams to lose so they can get back to camp without getting hurt, but if they return triumphant, that’s not so bad either.

Here’s the Dominican lineup, featuring Machado at shortstop:

  1. Jean Segura - DH
  2. Manny Machado - SS
  3. Robinson Cano - 2B
  4. Jose Bautista - LF
  5. Carlos Santana - 1B
  6. Nelson Cruz - RF
  7. Adrian Beltre - 3B
  8. Gregory Polanco - CF
  9. Welington Castillo - C

Carlos Martinez of the St. Louis Cardinals is the DR’s starting pitcher. Your team is doing OK if you have Machado playing at shortstop in order to get Beltre, a future Hall of Famer, into the game at third base.

The Puerto Rico lineup is not that much less loaded than the DR. Both teams emerged from their first round pools with a 3-0 record. One must fall tonight.

  1. Angel Pagan - LF
  2. Francisco Lindor - SS
  3. Carlos Correa - 3B
  4. Carlos Beltran - DH
  5. Yadier Molina - C
  6. Javier Baez - 2B
  7. Eddie Rosario - RF
  8. Rene Rivera - 1B
  9. Reymond Fuentes - CF

Puerto Rico’s starting pitcher is Orlando Roman, a 38-year-old who never made it to MLB, last pitched in a US-based league in 2008, and spent 2012-15 in Japan. Roman did not pitch last season. Despite its 3-0 record, it seems Puerto Rico may be an underdog in this game.

Both games will air on MLB Network. Don’t stay up past your bedtime, but hey, if you don’t have a bedtime, let’s watch some late night baseball that involves some Orioles.

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