By Chris Cue
February 2, 2009

     The World Baseball Classic (WBC) officially gets underway on March 5, when China takes on Japan in the Tokyo Dome. The final event will take place on March 23rd in Los Angeles at Dodger Stadium. (A complete schedule is available HERE courtesy of worldbaseballclassic.com.) That time frame doesn’t sound like too much of a commitment does it? After all, it’s only an 18 day tournament right?
Well, not exactly. What gets left out of that equation is the fact that all the players who normally would be training with their own teams, will now be training with their respective countries teams instead. The starting dates for those practices vary by team, with the U.S. team scheduled to start their training March 2 in Clearwater, Fl., at the Spring Training home of the Phillies.

     Not all of the teams involved in the classic operate the same way and the concerns that arise are with the differences in preparation styles each team may have. Japan for instance, normally trains their pitchers with long Bullpen sessions. That’s not typically done in the U.S. and will (if followed) possibly affect one Daisuke Matsuzaka. The Red Sox are sending 2 staff members along with Daisuke to Japan and they have been instructed to suggest what type of training program is best for him. They cannot however, dictate their policy to the Japan teams coaching staff. They can only let their desires be known and hope the Japan team co-operates. Risky business for an investment such as what the Red Sox have in Matsuzaka. Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald compares this situation to a museum lending one of it’s masterpiece portraits to another museum for a period of 2 months. That’s not too far off the mark. If pressed, the Red Sox organization would have to admit that they are not too pleased with the idea of one of their top 3 pitchers training with and playing for another team. This is training and increased playing time which could ultimately harm his durability and performance in the upcoming Major League season.

     Position players participating in the WBC event are not that much of a concern to most organizations. Their training and conditioning won’t be that much different then what they would normally be doing here in the US with their professional teams. The chance for injury with position players is much smaller as well, so the risks are not as great. When it comes to the Pitchers involvement, red flags should begin to go up. Pitchers are notoriously creatures of habit. They have set schedules, set training exercises and gradual increases to their pitch counts to prepare them for opening day. Pitchers involved in the WBC are going to need to be brought along much faster then they normally would. They have to be ready to take the mound and throw  a possible 70 pitches in their first game. Silverman notes that the Red Sox goal for game 5 of Spring Training is 75 pitches maximum. The WBC pitchers will have increases to their workloads after each round of competition. 70 pitches for round 1, 85 for round 2 and up to 100 pitches per game for the semi-finals and final round.

     Let’s forget about the fact that the pitchers involved in the WBC won’t be getting ready with thier professional clubs catchers. Let’s ignore the fact that their typical preparation schedule may be altered. Furthermore, let’s not factor in what the extra workload could do to these pitchers durability in August and September. Let’s only consider one thing. The Red Sox have an investment of  $51 million in posting fees and $8 million more on the line for the 2009 season with Daisuke Matsuzaka. Imagine for a second that you are an owner, manager or coach within the Red Sox organization, do you want him pitching for Japan?