ABL + MLB baseball ⚾

[rebelliousfeminist974]

Thought I'd start this thread for anyone interested in baseball, with spring training getting underway for season 2026 in a couple weeks' time and this year being a World Baseball Classic year. All things related to discussion around baseball across all the major and minor leagues, in addition to international tournaments can go in this thread.

 

[rebelliousfeminist974]

https://baseball.com.au/news/wbc26roster/

Australia have named a 30-man roster for the World Baseball Classic running between March 5th and 17th, with seventeen players returning from the previous cycle. Five players named to the roster have experience in Major League Baseball, and four players have experience from the KBO. Travis Bazzana, who was picked first overall in the 2024 MLB draft, has also been named to the roster.

 

[Sharkman84]

Pity the Japanese NPB doesn't get televised here, I got hooked on that pretty quickly.

 

[JS96]

I've always enjoyed MLB as a bit of background noise and the feel good summer mood of the USA it offers.

Went to 2 Yankees games before the speed up reforms. Games have become faster and more enjoyable since.

 

[HappyGuus]

I've always enjoyed MLB as a bit of background noise and the feel good summer mood of the USA it offers.

Yeah those MLB commentators can talk underwater and with good humour. And the players seem like good blokes when interviewed.

 

[rebelliousfeminist974]

MLB back underway with spring training games for season 2026, and most results are mixed but what you'd expect from games that don't count towards anything. Washington Nationals defeated Miami Marlins 16-8 in Grapefruit League action, and New York Yankees ran out 20-3 winners over Detroit Tigers. Reigning World Series champions Los Angeles Dodgers defeated cross-town rivals Los Angeles Angels 15-2 on the first day of Cactus League action.

 

[HappyGuus]

World Baseball Classic: What is it? How can I watch in Australia?

Baseball fans the world over are preparing for a treat, as the MLB teams release players from spring training to represent their nations in the World Baseball Classic.

www.espn.com

 

[HappyGuus]

Australia vs Japan: The biggest game most Australians don’t realise is happening​

 

[Sharkman84]

Australia vs Japan: The biggest game most Australians don’t realise is happening​

I knew it's on as I follow both the ABL & NPB.

 

[HappyGuus]

 

[rebelliousfeminist974]

Australia leading Japan 1-0 in the top of the seventh, with Robbie Glendinning at bat as a pinch hitter for Chris Burke.

 

[rebelliousfeminist974]

Australia going down 1-2-3 after Robbie Glendinning strikes out swinging, with Shohei Ohtani on deck to get the bottom of the seventh underway.

 

[HappyGuus]

Looks like some math required to know how we get through to the next stage

 

[rebelliousfeminist974]

Looks like some math required to know how we get through to the next stage

Australia only need a win against South Korea to advance to the quarterfinals as runners-up from pool C, otherwise there would be a three-way tie between us, South Korea and Chinese Taipei with the tiebreaker being ratio of total runs allowed divided by total defensive outs recorded.

 

[JS96]

 

[Sharkman84]

Super proud of the fact we were so competitive against the best team in the world outside of the US. That Japanese team was star studded and to be so competitive against them is a huge plus for us and great for baseball in Australia.

 

[rebelliousfeminist974]

Super proud of the fact we were so competitive against the best team in the world outside of the US. That Japanese team was star studded and to be so competitive against them is a huge plus for us and great for baseball in Australia.

Totally agree that Australian baseball is definitely improving in leaps and bounds especially after we managed to keep Japan scoreless through six innings, restricting them to only five hits including Shohei Ohtani going none for three, and we're only going to build further and become contenders for major tournaments in the future.

 

[HappyGuus]

Has any of this made our mainstream media?

 

[rebelliousfeminist974]

Has any of this made our mainstream media?

The game against Japan made headlines on ABC News and will be a highlight of our campaign which has just come to an end following a 7-2 loss to South Korea in our last pool C match, meaning that we finish third with a 2-2 record and inferior quotient of fewest runs allowed divided by defensive outs recorded.

 

[HappyGuus]

Yeah I watched the last innings. An unfortunate choke by us, a simple three metre throw to second base instead went between the legs and let Korea in. We had it and let it slip through our fingers.