Phillies stars dominating in World Baseball Classic as season nears
Phillies shortstop Trea Turner is slashing .273/.333/.545 through three games so far in the World Baseball Classic.
After a week of madness, the World Baseball Classic pool stage recently closed. Multiple Philadelphia Phillies players showcased their talents on the big stage while helping their respective countries advance to the quarterfinals. Let's take a look at how each player did.
In Pool C, USA and Mexico advanced. While Team USA was the talk of the pool coming in, Mexico stole the show.
After losing their first game to Colombia, Mexico bounced back with a dominant win against the United States. Then in a pivotal third game against Great Britain, new Phillies starter Taijuan Walker stepped up.
Walker dominated the Great Britain lineup. He gave up zero runs on one hit through four innings, before reaching the pool play pitch limit of 65. Sporting his home country's alternate jersey, Walker struck out an impressive eight of his 14 batters faced, while allowing just one walk.
Mexico's bats were slowed throughout the game and only scored one run through its first six innings. Walker and the Mexico bullpen shut out Great Britain until the sixth inning when they gave up an RBI single. Mexico then answered the following inning with an RBI single of their own, taking the lead and never looking back.
Mexico then beat Canada the following day to advance to the quarterfinals. They defeated Puerto Rico on Friday, 5-4, setting them up for a semifinals matchup against Japan. Walker's performance so far has been encouraging for Phillies fans.
Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber picked up where he left off in the World Series.
Team USA featured the most Phillies out of all teams in the World Baseball Classic. Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, and J.T. Realmuto are all participating for Team USA.
In Team USA's first game of pool play against Great Britain, all three started. The trio each recorded hits, but Kyle Schwarber stole the show. In the bottom of the fourth, he came to the plate with Team USA leading 2-1 and Mike Trout and Paul Goldschmidt on base. Schwarber did what he does best — hitting a "Schwarbomb." Schwarber ripped a no-doubt home run into right field, giving Team USA a four-run lead. In the contest, he also added two walks.
The following night against Mexico, USA manager Mark DeRosa sat all three Phillies players. As a result, Team USA was crushed by Mexico, 11-5. Mets first baseman Pete Alonso took Kyle Schwarber's designated hitter position and struck out twice and left three on base.
The decision was because DeRosa did not trust Schwarber against Mexico's left-handed starter Patrick Sandoval. Surely, Schwarber hasn't proven he can hit home runs off left-handed pitchers on a big stage, right?
This sinker from Framber Valdez caught a little bit too much of the plate and Kyle Schwarber was all over it. #LevelUp #WorldSeries pic.twitter.com/wKvqdyvqs5
— SportsRadio 610 (@SportsRadio610) November 6, 2022
In Team USA's third game, Realmuto and Turner were back in the lineup, while Schwarber was once again benched due to a lefty starter. Against Canada, Turner and Realmuto each had two RBI. Realmuto was 2-for-2 on the day. Turner scored twice and hit a solo home run. Team USA would mercy rule Canada, 12-1.
After a day off, Team USA faced Colombia. They needed a win or a small-margin loss to advance past the pool stage. Turner and Schwarber were in the lineup, while Realmuto was left out in favor of Will Smith. Team USA's offense struggled, but they pulled out a 3-2 win. Turner had one of the team's seven hits. Trout carried the country on his back. The captain had three hits and all three RBI for the team.
Team USA will face Venezuela in the quarterfinals on Saturday.
Even Phillies backup catcher Garrett Stubbs reached headlines in the World Baseball Classic.
Pool C also featured Israel. Phillies backup catcher Garrett Stubbs led off and played third base for Israel. Stubbs was one of the few big-league players on the team.
In its first game of the tournament, Israel trailed Nicaragua, 1-0, for most of the game. In the bottom of the eighth, Israel loaded the bases and even tied the game through the bottom of the order. With two outs and the game notched at one, Stubbs stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded. Stubbs hit a 2-2 pitch over the left fielder's head, scoring two and giving Israel the runs needed to get the win.
Sadly, Stubbs had some knee soreness from the game and was taken off the roster after just one game. However, it was a great moment for the Phillies bench player to have a star moment for his country.
In Pool D, Venezuela dominated, winning all four games. Phillies relief pitcher José Alvarado helped his country to two of those wins.
The first game was one of the best matchups of the pool stage. Venezuela and Dominican Republic faced off to open Pool D play. Leading 5-1, Alvarado was tasked to close out the Dominican Republic's star-studded lineup in the ninth. Alvarado started the inning by striking out Julio Rodríguez. After letting Juan Soto and Manny Machado reach base, Alvarado rebounded by striking out Teoscar Hernández and getting Rafael Devers to ground out to end the game.
Three days later, Alvarado came into the game against Nicaragua. With a 4-1 lead, Alvarado struck out Nicaragua's first two hitters. After allowing a double, Alvarado forced a fly out to center field to end the game.
In two appearances, Alvarado had two saves and allowed no runs. He looks to already be in midseason form. Venezuela now faces Team USA on Saturday in the quarterfinal round. It will be interesting to see if Alvarado is given the chance to face one of his Phillies teammates.
The World Baseball Classic has allowed fans to see some of the game's best players play in postseason atmospheres before MLB's regular season begins. The rest of the tournament will hopefully feature some combination of Phillies that allows fans to see them on the biggest stage again — just months after watching them in the World Series.