00:00Everybody's looking up at Japan, the reigning World Baseball Classic champ.
00:04And I think our Japan conversation is going to be pretty quick because they're either established superstars in Major League Baseball or they're in the MPB.
00:11But Peyton, if you wouldn't mind throwing up Team Japan's roster, it's headlined by Shohei Otani, obviously.
00:17And Otani is going to DH. He's not going to pitch in the World Baseball Classic.
00:20That was his choice. But you got Munitaka Murakami, the newest White Sox.
00:24He's going to play first base. Kazuma Okamoto just signed a $60 million deal with Toronto.
00:28He's going to play third base. And then you've got Yoshida in there as well.
00:32You've got Seiya Suzuki in there as well. And then you go to the rotation.
00:39And I feel like that's kind of the separator. And that's where we saw everybody come to play.
00:43You know, that's Roki Sasaki bursting onto the scene. It's Yamamoto bursting onto the scene in 2023.
00:50Yamamoto is going to throw for Team Japan. Sasaki is not.
00:53But Yusei Kikuchi is going to throw for Team Japan.
00:56Tomiyuki Shugano is going to throw for Team Japan.
00:59Notable omissions. Sasaki, obviously.
01:02Tetsuya Imai, who just signed a three-year deal with the Houston Astros.
01:06And Yu Darvish. Darvish is a big one that was very present in 2023.
01:11You know, they also have some interesting bullpen arms.
01:13Yuki Matsui, the San Diego Padres.
01:15And then a couple other guys that are really solid in NPB.
01:18Shugo Maki playing second base is very good in NPB.
01:21The catcher, Sakamoto, very good in the league over there as well.
01:26But Japan fascinates me.
01:28They're going to have to be carried by their superstars again.
01:30And we'll probably run into an Otani type of situation again if they do get to the World Baseball Classic Final.
01:37Yeah, it's a very intriguing roster.
01:39But again, just to compare it to the USA team, Yusei Kikuchi is the number two for them.
01:45The United States has Paul Skeens.
01:46That's the level, right?
01:49Losing Otani on the mound hurts.
01:51Losing Imai hurts.
01:53Losing a couple other guys.
01:55That's, I think, what separates Japan from the United States.
01:59Because, you know, we can look at the bullpens and we can look at the benches.
02:02But they're fielding a really, really good lineup.
02:04It doesn't compare to the United States.
02:06So how would they beat them is by pitching.
02:08But by losing a couple of those key guys, like how many innings can Yamamoto truly throw for them?
02:14It's not going to look like the postseason, you know, in October, right?
02:18He's not, you know, coming in from the bullpen.
02:21He's not going all out in a Game 7 type scenario.
02:24He's also going to give them four innings.
02:25So when Yamamoto isn't on the mound, it's not as scary of a Japan team as we've seen in previous years.
02:32And they were real scary when Shohei Otani was striking out Mike Trout and they won the whole thing.
02:36But this year, the USA, I think, just clears them in every facet of the game.
02:41Even defense.
02:42Because you look at the defense for Team Japan with Yoshida and Seah in left and right.
02:49With Okamoto and Murakami on the corners.
02:52Like, it's not even a great defensive team either.
02:54So, like, the betting odds give the United States 49% chance.
02:59I think it should be closer to 60%.
03:01I think this team is worlds ahead of the other rosters we have.
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