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After the news broke that Xie Witcomb (28 years old, Houston Astros) would wear a Tai Chi badge to compete in the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), the Taiwanese team did not let down its vigilance at all.
According to reports from multiple media outlets including Brian McTaggart of MLB.com, the official website of Major League Baseball, Houston Astros captain Dana Brown admitted to Witcomb’s participation in the WBC in an interview with a local reporter on the 4th (Korean time).
Team coach Ryu Ji-hyun said early on that “end pitcher Riley Joon-young O’Brien (St. Louis Cardinals) and outfielder Jermy Jones (Detroit Tigers) will join,” but remained silent about Witcomb, but the Houston captain’s statement that day made it a foregone conclusion.
With Kim Ha-sung (Atlanta) and Song Sung-moon (San Diego Padres) withdrawing from the team due to injuries, the presence of resourceful players who can handle the infield and front field will be a big strength.
Witcomb, who was nominated by the Houston Astros with the 160th overall pick in the 5th round of the 2020 MLB Draft, has only participated in 40 games in 2 seasons in the MLB and has a batting average of only 0.1781 home runs, but his position in the second-tier professional league is very stable. After entering the second-tier Major League Baseball for the first time in 2021, he hit 127 home runs in 5 seasons and became the home run king with 35 home runs in 2023. Last season, he had a batting average of 0.26725 home runs and an OPS (on-base rate + slugging rate) of 0.869 in 107 games last season, showing a very active performance.
He is also a batsman with very strong power compared to foreign batsmen playing at home. Not to mention, both the infield and outfield defenses are able to perform their role without any problem.
The Taiwanese team, which will face off against the South Korean team in the group stage, is also nervous due to the addition of Witcom. ET Today said, “Korean-American Major League Baseball player Shay Whitcomb is expected to join the WBC Korean representative team to strengthen the infield lineup.” “At the 2023 WBC, Korean-American Tommy Edmond played as the Korean representative team and used the Korean-style middle name of ‘Hyunsoo’, which caused heated discussions. The number of Korean-American players is expected to further increase this year.”
He went on to say, “It is reported that St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Riley O’Brien and Detroit Tigers outfielder Jermy Jones have already responded in the affirmative to joining the team, and Houston infielder Witcomb is also one of the strong candidates. Seattle Mariners pitcher Denning has also entered the final candidate list.”
Media reports said, “Compared with O’Brien and Jones, who have attracted much attention, Whitcomb has received relatively little attention before. However, recently, due to the weakening of the Korean team’s infield lineup, his name has attracted attention again.” When the infield lineup is insufficient, the value of a versatile infielder who can play third base, shortstop, and second base is further improved. “
Like South Korea, Taiwan can only advance to the next round if it surpasses South Korea. The South Korean team and the Chinese Taiwan team are in a group with the Japanese team, the Australian team, and the Czech team. The Japanese team is even better, and the Czech and Australian teams plan to win. In the end, in order to qualify for the group stage, both sides must defeat each other unconditionally.
In previous WBCs, the Korean team has the advantage. In 2006, when they entered the semi-finals, and in 2009, when they were runner-up, they won 2-0 and 9-0 respectively. Didn’t lose a point in two major tournaments.
The national team, which bowed after losing 2-3 in the 2013 competition, once again won 11-8 in the 2017 competition. Two teams that have not met in the 2023 tournament faced off again. People are paying great attention to how Witcom will perform to help the representative team in the match against the Taiwanese team.
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