USA Advances to WBC Semifinals; Ohtani Prepares for Season

The United States secured a spot in the semifinals of the World Baseball Classic with a 5-3 victory over Canada at Daikin Park in Houston on Friday night. This triumph marked a significant moment for Team USA as they continue their pursuit of the championship.

In the matchup, Will Smith was absent from the lineup, as he has been sharing catching duties with Cal Raleigh. Meanwhile, Clayton Kershaw, who did not pitch in any of the first five games of the tournament, is expected to be replaced on Team USA’s roster by Twins starter Joe Ryan for the upcoming semifinals.

The earlier game on Friday was a lopsided affair, with the Dominican Republic dominating Korea in a 10-0 shutout. Former Dodgers pitcher Hyun-jin Ryu struggled during his outing; although he escaped the first inning without damage, the second inning proved disastrous, yielding two walks and three hits that resulted in three runs, forcing him to exit after just five outs. The Dominican Republic capitalized on this momentum with a four-run third inning, and Austin Wells put the finishing touch on the rout with a three-run home run in the seventh, triggering the mercy rule.

Hyeseong Kim returned to the Korean lineup after missing the last game of pool play due to a hand injury sustained on a slide into second base. Unfortunately for him, he struck out in both of his at-bats, and he will soon be back with the Dodgers to continue his fight for a spot on the opening day roster.

Looking ahead, Team USA will face the Dominican Republic in the first WBC semifinal on Sunday night at loanDepot Park in Miami. The matchup promises to be an exciting clash between two powerhouse teams.

On Saturday night, Japan will meet Venezuela in their quarterfinal, with Yoshinobu Yamamoto taking the mound and Shohei Ohtani serving as the designated hitter. While Ohtani is not pitching in the WBC, he is ramping up for the regular season, having recently thrown four simulated innings on Thursday in Miami.

Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior shared insights with Bill Plunkett from the Orange County Register regarding Ohtani’s pitching progress. “We get Trackman reports. We know how many pitches he’s thrown, we know the velocity, we have a general idea of the movements. We get some cellphone videos and stuff from Will Ireton, who is working with Team Japan during the tournament, and Possum (Yosuke Nakajima, a Dodgers trainer), who was in Tokyo as well. We’ve been able to track what’s going on and talk with Will to see how he’s responding. That’s kind of how we’re staying in touch.”

Note: This recap is an independently written summary based on publicly available reporting.