Jackson Chourio Set To Play For Venezuela In World Baseball Classic

On 1/29/2026 at 12:52 PM, TURBO said:

Stay healthy young man!

Forgive me if this has been discussed elsewhere, (and perhaps we just merge some of the WBC-related threads?) but do we have a consensus opinion on the WBC being an injury-risk?

I totally understand the concerns for pitchers, but for me, practicing/playing baseball seems to be a pretty normal way to prepare your body for a long season, if done with consideration.

Unrelated to injury, where are we at with enjoying the WBC? I think it has grown enough to be a worthy competition even though I think its schedule should probably be altered whenever MLB does all of its expansion-related logistical changes. I think the Winter leagues and Asian leagues would need to be part of that conversation as well.

1 hour ago, Playing Catch said:

Unrelated to injury, where are we at with enjoying the WBC? I think it has grown enough to be a worthy competition even though I think its schedule should probably be altered whenever MLB does all of its expansion-related logistical changes. I think the Winter leagues and Asian leagues would need to be part of that conversation as well.

I do worry about injury, of course, but my anecdotal evidence of being in Arizona during the last WBC is that it was a blast to attend a couple of games. The country pride really made being in the stands feel like a soccer match. Singing, chanting, non-stop cheering. Then the celebration after was great as well.

I'm interested in seeing the team from Japan so I know what the Dodger lineup will look like in a few years as well.