Dodgers: Player Performances in the World Baseball Classic

With the World Baseball Classic determining its semifinalists this weekend in San Diego and Tokyo, most of the Dodgers participants are back at Camelback Ranch to help the club wrap up Spring Training.

With ten players in the Dodger organization on WBC rosters, closer Kenley Jansen is the only player whose team is still alive in the tournament. Jansen, born in Curaçao, is on the Netherlands team, who will be playing the championship round this weekend. Curaçao is a constituent country of the Netherlands and its residents are considered Dutch citizens.

Jansen was not with the Dutch club for the first two rounds, but will be joining the team to “pitch and try to win it,” Jansen said at the Dodgers’ spring complex. The WBC finals are at Dodger Stadium, which is a determining factor in Jansen’s willingness to participate.

Most of the other Dodgers who competed in the tournament are done. Their levels of success were varied, and in the case of Adrian Gonzalez, the entire experience was marred due to an obscure tiebreaker barred Mexico’s team from advancing.

Mexico, who won one of their three games, was not helped much by Gonzalez at the plate, as the Dodgers slugger could only manage one hit in his 12 at-bats.

Alex Verdugo, however, performed admirably for the Mexico team, smacking  five hits in the three games for a .357 batting average and .714 OPS. Verdugo, a 20-year old sweet swinging center fielder, is considered one of the organization’s top prospects.

Newly acquired reliever Sergio Romo pitched for the Mexican team, appearing in 2 games. He did not find success, allowing four hits and three earned runs in his 1 1/3 innings.

Julio Urias was technically on the Mexico roster as well, but the Dodgers organization has a very tight innings limit on the 20-year old wunderkind, and did not allow him to participate.

Utility man Kiké Hernandez of Puerto Rico is still playing, as Puerto Rico hopes to advance with games against the United States and Venezuela this weekend. Thus far, Hernandez has three hits in five at-bats, including a triple and two runs batted in.

Rob Segedin, a surprise contributor for the Dodgers in 2016, was successful in his performance for Italy, batting .313 including a game-winning home run and 2 RBI against Mexico. He finished the tournament with a .913 OPS.

Drew Maggi, a career-long minor leaguer, also played for Italy, going one for four with a .900 OPS. Maggi is in the Dodgers organization as a third-baseman in AAA Oklahoma City.

Ike Davis, a long shot to make the Dodgers big league club, performed wonderfully in the WBC, leading tournament darlings Israel with eight hits, five runs and 3 runs batted in. The first baseman tallied a sparkling 1.277 OPS for a team that was seeded 16th out of 16 teams, but ended up winning four games and advancing to the second round.

Dean Kremer, another Dodger farmhand, pitched for Israel. He went 2/3 inning, allowing 3 hits and 1 earned run. The 21-year old was with the Gulf Coast Loons in A ball for the Dodgers in 2016.

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Overall, the Dodgers had a fairly decent representation in the World Baseball Classic. Let’s hope that the USA can make the finals and we could potentially see Kershaw don the red white and blue in Dodger Stadium.