Here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world headed into the weekend:
1. World Baseball Classic Quarterfinals:
The quarterfinals of the World Baseball Classic are underway, and two games are scheduled for this evening. At 6:30pm local time in Miami, Korea will face the Dominican Republic. Former big leaguer and All-Star Hyun Jin Ryu will be on the mound for Korea opposite Phillies southpaw Cristopher Sanchez. Ryu is less than two weeks from his 39th birthday but has remained very effective in the KBO over the years, including a 3.23 ERA in 26 starts for the Hanwha Eagles in 2025. He allowed a solo home run but no other damage in his last WBC start, with three strikeouts in his three innings of work. Sanchez, meanwhile, is coming off a career year for Philadelphia where the 29-year-old finished second in NL Cy Young award voting behind Paul Skenes. He posted a 2.50 ERA with a 2.55 FIP in 202 innings of work last year, but got shelled for three runs on six hits and a walk in 1 1/3 innings during his lone WBC start.
At 7:00pm local time in Houston, Team USA will be facing off against their neighbors to the north. Canada is sending right-hander Michael Soroka to the mound. He’s coming off a 4.52 ERA in 89 innings for the Nationals and Cubs last year. Soroka scattered four runs and a walk across his three innings of one-run ball during his last WBC start. Soroka’s opponent will be right-hander Logan Webb. The two-time All-Star finished fourth in NL Cy Young Award voting last year and struck out six in four innings of work during his last WBC start, allowing only a solo homer in terms of damage. The quarterfinals will continue tomorrow with matchups between Puerto Rico (Seth Lugo) and Italy (Pitcher TBA) as well as Venezuela (Ranger Suarez) against Samurai Japan (Yoshinobu Yamamoto).
2. Berrios battling elbow inflammation:
Blue Jays right-hander Jose Berrios was hoping to the Puerto Rican team for that game against Italy, but those hopes have been dashed. MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson writes that Berrios underwent an MRI recently that revealed inflammation in his right elbow. While there’s no structural damage, he was nonetheless scratched from his start yesterday and the Blue Jays are now gathering additional information. It’s an unusual situation given that Berrios has seemingly not feeling any soreness in his elbow. The MRI was scheduled not due to issues on the right-hander’s end, but for insurance purposes ahead of his planned WBC appearance. It’s unclear if the news puts Opening Day in jeopardy for Berrios, who was already in danger of losing a spot in the Jays rotation at some point this year due to an influx of talent (Dylan Cease, Cody Ponce, and the emergence of top prospect Trey Yesavage).
3. Free agency moving for stragglers:
Yesterday saw a pair of left-handed relief arms come off the board with big league deals: the Red Sox landed southpaw Danny Coulombe on a $1MM guarantee yesterday, while the Rangers landed lefty Jalen Beeks on a major league contract of his own. The two lefties coming off the board were among the best bullpen options still available on a dwindling market. With just two weeks to go until Opening Day, only a small handful of players are still available. Outfielder Jesse Winker, infielder Wilmer Flores, right-hander Lucas Giolito, and first baseman Rowdy Tellez are among the more notable names still available on the market, with a large group of veteran starters (Marcus Stroman, Patrick Corbin, Tyler Anderson) and relievers (Justin Wilson, Jose Leclerc, Jorge Lopez) also still available.
