2 WBC Records & 3 Players to Break Them in 2023

With March Madness getting underway and conference championships going on from Vegas to NYC, another tournament is getting lost in the shuffle.

The World Baseball Classic made its return this week following a six-year hiatus. Team USA will start flexing its American Made long ball muscles on Saturday when they open against Great Britain. While we’re not going to get deep into Group C, which features Canada, Mexico, and Colombia joining the Brits and Americans here, we’ve got a full breakdown of the Pool right here.

Instead, we’ve got two WBC feats with less than a handful of players that have the best chances to carve their name into the record book. While there are no odds for hitting these new tournament bests, our choices are set up against the backdrop of some of BetMGM’s futures for the upcoming MLB season.

Was there anything “the Kid” couldn’t do? Over his 20+ year career, Griffey had 2,700 big league hits along with 630 home runs and 1,836 RBI. While the seven ribeyes he cashed on March 10, 2006, didn’t count toward his MLB total, it was just another record added to his scroll-like resume. 

The 13-time All-Star crushed South Africa that day in the first-ever WBC. It was just the second and last time Griffey would put up a touchdown worth of RBI in one game. Now a hitting coach for the Americans, Griffey will have a front-row seat to watch one of his own players take a run at his near two-decade-old record.

Coming off a year where Pete Alonso set the New York Mets mark for RBI in a single season with 131, the “Polar Bear” will get a chance to start fishing for another record. While Alonso has never seen seven in one game, he did drive in five on four occasions last year, and his career high came in 2019 when the Mets slugger cashed in six runs.

Alonso sits second on the odds board (+800) to lead the majors in RBI this season, following only fellow New York resident Aaron Judge (+700).

While Ubaldo Jimenez may not be the household name that Ken Griffey Jr. is, he did pitch for over 10 years in the bigs. Jimenez was an All-Star in 2010, the same year he tossed the first no-hitter in Colorado Rockies’ franchise history.

A year earlier, the big righty hit the record books pitching for his home country. Jimenez set the WBC single-start strikeout record, fanning 10 of 13 batters. The Dominican hurler needed just 65 pitches over four innings against the Netherlands to make Classic history. Another pitcher from the DR is a 2023 candidate to run at this record.

Sandy Alcantara won’t have the motivation or guidance of a WBC record holder as Alonso does with Griffey, but he certainly has the tools. Alcantara comes into this tournament fresh off his first-ever Cy Young season. The 2022 winner finished fourth in the National League with 207 strikeouts last year.

Alcantara registered 10 or more strikeouts six times in 2022 but needed at least eight innings in five of those starts. Pitchers are used sparingly in this preseason tournament, which could work against the Miami Marlins ace.

The 27-year-old sits 12th on the MLB strikeout leader futures board at +2200.

The phenom that is Shohei Ohtani has already made his presence felt in his first-ever World Baseball Classic. Ohtani registered his first strikeout and hit in Japan’s opener against China on Thursday night. The dual position threat struck out five in just four innings in his first WBC start. He also ripped a two-RBI double en route to picking up his first tournament win.

Where Alcantara usually needs more inning to cash Ks, Ohtani has shown the ability to be an efficient strikeout machine. The Japanese superstar had 10 or more strikeouts 10 times last season, accomplishing the mark in six innings or less in five of those starts.

Finishing sixth in the majors with 219 strikeouts in 2022, Ohtani is 10th on the 2023 odds board to lead the league at +2000.

Play ball!

The post 2 WBC Records & 3 Players to Break Them in 2023 appeared first on NESN.com.