WBC 2023 Team USA
Despite Opening Day of the 2023 MLB season still being a couple weeks away, there has been some very compelling baseball happening in the last month. Spring Training is in full swing, where big stars are shaking the rust off after a long offseason, and top prospects are getting their first taste of meaningful games. But more dramatically, the World Baseball Classic is moving into the Quarterfinal Stage, with the best talent from around the world representing their countries of origin!
Some personal circumstances have prevented me from posting about any of these exciting developments. But with Team USA advancing to the next round of the WBC, I’m dusting off this blog to take a look at the astrological implications of the tournament’s most star-studded roster. Somewhat surprisingly, Sagittarius is the best-represented sign for the United States, thanks to their penchant for developing high-leverage relievers. But rather than organize my analysis by sign, I’m just going down the batting order.
Dodgers leadoff hitter Mookie Betts is the best of the four Libras on the Team USA, in terms of total fantasy points. His sign-mate Merrill Kelly has the highest points-per-game average of any pitcher on the roster, with just over 58 - which unfortunately has more to say about the difficulties of insuring the game’s top hurlers than the excellence of Kelly. David Bednar adds an effective weapon to the relief corps. Cedric Mullins joins Betts in the outfield, meaning Libra has a full half of the four Black players on Team USA’s roster.
Angels center fielder Mike Trout drove in all three USA runs in the decisive game against Colombia on Wednesday. He leads a four-player Leo contingent that also includes game 2 starter Nick Martinez, who will have a spot in the 2023 Padres rotation, despite the fact that he spent most 2022 in the bullpen. Interestingly enough, the long reliever who followed Martinez in game 2 - Brady Singer of the Royals - is also a Leo, as is Rays “closer” Jason Adam.
Moving to the next sign on the karmic wheel, reigning NL MVP Paul Goldschmidt, and top fantasy point scorer on this roster, bats third in the lineup. He joins two of his sign-mates who are also his real-life teammates on the Cardinals: Adam Wainwright, who started game 1, and Miles Mikolas, who came in for some mop up long relief in game 3. In the bullpen, Devin Williams has served as the top setup reliever to a closer who is (you guessed it) a Sagittarius.
Returning to the Cardinals, Nolan Arenado is the cleanup hitting third baseman, and arguably the top Aries player in this tournament. He is joined by catcher Will Smith, who has shared duties behind the plate with Pisces J.T. Realmuto. Jeff McNeil, who won the NL batting title in 2022, started the tournament as USA’s second baseman, but the lefty was moved to the bench after two games.
Mets slugging first baseman Pete Alonso started only two of Team USA’s four games, but his fantasy numbers support his placement at fifth in the batting order. His Sagittarius sign-mate Ryan Pressly has been used as the closer, which makes sense when you closed games for the World Series champion Astros in the previous season. None of the other three SAG relievers broke the 1,000-point plateau… and what’s more, each of Adam Ottavino, Kendall Graveman, and Aaron Loup changed teams prior to the 2022 season.
When Jeff McNeil was ousted from second base, his spot went to White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson. The fact that TA effortlessly shifted to the other side of the second base bag allows Anderson and Trea Turner to occupy the same middle infield. Despite his far superior fantasy season, the newest Phillies addition was dropped to ninth in the batting order for the final game in Pool C play. Heartwarming comeback story Daniel Bard actually had the best fantasy season among Team USA relievers, but his stats were heavily inflated by saves that he recorded for a bad Rockies team.
For left field, Team USA has been switching between Capricorn Kyle Tucker and Pisces Kyle Schwarber. Actually, each of these two lefty swingers made it into the lineup in game 1, with Schwarbs occupying the DH slot. The only other position players left are Gemini infielder Bobby Witt Jr. and third-string catcher Kyle Higashioka… because you GOTTA carry three catchers in a tournament like this.
Speaking of Higashioka, the Taurus backup backstop has two Bulls sign-mates on the Team USA pitching staff, each of whom worked as starters during the 2022 season. Lance Lynn of the White Sox started game 3, and was the only United States pitcher to work five innings in a game. Meanwhile, Colorado lefty Kyle Freeland three three innings of long relief in the first game. If you’re keeping score back home, you’ll notice that Team USA has no representation from either Scorpio or Aquarius… which, in this case, I would take as a bad omen regarding the competitiveness of those two signs in 2023.