Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to reflect the fact that Reynaldo Lopez has been removed from the Dominican Republic’s roster, while RHP Nicholas Padilla has been added to Puerto Rico’s roster.
The White Sox will be well-represented in the World Baseball Classic this year.
All World Baseball Classic rosters are being announced today, meaning there are some cases in which we find players who were added/removed that didn’t make it into the news cycle. Kendall Graveman is one of those players, who will now be joining Lance Lynn and Tim Anderson in representing Team USA for the WBC. In addition, Jose Ruiz was newly announced to be pitching for Team Venezuela
Graveman and Ruiz job the aforementioned Lynn and Anderson, as well as Yoan Moncada, Luis Robert, Eloy Jimenez, and Nicholas Padilla as the confirmed participants in the World Baseball Classic. Moncada and Robert will represent Team Cuba, while Jimenez and Lopez will represent the Dominican Republic.
Graveman played in the first year of his three-year, $24M contract with the White Sox last season. In 65 innings, he compiled a 3.18 ERA, 23.2 K%, and 9.1 BB% while serving primarily as the team’s setup man. With Liam Hendriks battling cancer, Graveman is one of a few players with an upper hand at the majority of the closing opportunities for the White Sox to begin 2023.
A long-time White Sox pitcher, Ruiz has been a low-leverage reliever for most of his time on the South Side. He compiled 60.2 innings with the club last year in 63 games, posting a 4.60 ERA, 25.7 K%, and 12.5 BB%. Ruiz will face some competition in reprising his low-leverage role in 2023, but his time with the team will likely give him the leg up here.
For the first time ever, the World Baseball Classic is expanding to 20 teams with pool play beginning this March in four cities around the globe: Phoenix, Miami, Tokyo, Japan, and Taichung, Taiwan. The quarterfinal games will take place in Tokyo and Miami, and the semifinals and championship game will be played in Miami.
The United States are the reigning champions after shutting out Puerto Rico 8-0 in 2017 for their first title. They are set to play in Pool C in Phoenix, along with Canada, Colombia, Mexico, and Great Britain.
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