Olympic baseball tourney features players you know and some you'll soon love
By Jordan Shusterman
FOX Sports MLB Writer
For the first time since 2008, baseball is back at the Summer Olympics!
From July 28 to Aug. 7, six countries will vie for a gold medal in Tokyo. Obviously, we are right in the middle of the major-league season, so it’s not like we aren’t already getting our baseball fix. But international baseball is a totally different flavor, and the game’s return to the Olympics will be a tremendous opportunity to showcase some of the best non-MLB talents across the globe.
The tournament begins with a group-stage round robin before a knockout stage that heavily favors the teams that win their first two group-stage games:
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The format is a bit confusing, but don’t stress too much about that; you’re going to tune in for the players. And the six teams are chock-full of players you already know, players you haven’t thought about in a long time and players you will surely soon grow to love.
Here are the names to know on each team before the action gets going next week:
GROUP A
Japan
No. 1 in the World Baseball Softball Confederation world rankings and hosting in 2021 is the team known as Samurai Japan. Although they have never won a gold medal, Japan won the 2006 World Baseball Classic and the 2019 WBSC Premier12 tournament and has developed into a no-doubt powerhouse on the international baseball scene. The MLB season will prevent the likes of Shohei Ohtani, Yu Darvish and Yusei Kikuchi from participating in the Games, but Japan is surely thrilled to have Masahiro Tanaka back competing for them after his relatively surprising return to NPB last winter. Tanaka is the headliner, but this team is loaded with NPB veterans and ascending stars alike.
RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto: If you’re looking for the next Japanese ace who could come stateside one day, this is your guy. He’s still just 22 years old, but he has been utterly dominant in NPB. He currently leads the Pacific League in both innings (113.2) and ERA (1.82).
1B Munetaka Murakami: Another ascendant talent in NPB, the 21-year-old Murakami has some of the biggest raw power in Japan and is currently second in the Central League in home runs, with 26 through 83 games.
2B Tetsuto Yamada: Murakami’s teammate with the Yakult Swallows, Yamada has been a huge star in Japan for a decade now and has plenty of experience in international competition. He has slowed down a bit recently, but he posted four 30-HR/30-SB seasons in five years from 2015 to 2019. He’s a stud.
OF Yuki Yanagita: Another Samurai Japan mainstay, the 32-year-old center fielder is leading the Pacific League in home runs this season and is widely respected as one of the best players in NPB.
Mexico
After qualifying in epic fashion by walking off the United States in the bronze medal game of the 2019 Premier12 tournament, Mexico arrives in Tokyo as somewhat of a dark horse. They aren’t quite the Cinderella story that Team Israel is, but they also don’t boast the star power of Japan or even the D.R. That said, this is a veteran group with a few longtime big leaguers sprinkled amongst a whole host of Mexican League stalwarts.
LHP Óliver Pérez: Did you know Oliver Perez pitched in the majors earlier this year? I didn’t until I started writing this article! I hope he pitches forever.
1B Adrián González: Easily the biggest name on this squad, A-Gon will try to recapture some of his offensive prowess on the Olympic stage.
INF Brandon Laird: Laird competes for Mexico because his mother is Mexican, and he’ll have a unique advantage at the Tokyo Games, considering he has been playing (and raking) in NPB since 2015. It’s practically his home turf!
Dominican Republic
The Dominican roster can be broken down very simply: It’s one past superstar in José Bautista, one possible future superstar in Julio Rodriguez and a whole bunch of LIDOM legends. LIDOM is, of course, the Dominican Winter League, in which many of the best Dominican players continue to play for championships after their time in MLB has come and gone. We're talking guys such as Melky Cabrera and Emilio Bonifacio. Oh, yeah — this team is gonna be fun.
INF Juan Francisco: The all-time LIDOM HR king will be anchoring the D.R. lineup with his world-class proclivity for depositing baseballs over outfield fences. How can you not love this guy?
OF José Bautista: The decline for Joey Bats at the big league level might have come more suddenly than we all would have liked, but this should be a great opportunity for him to show out one more time on a gigantic stage.
OF Julio Rodriguez: The J-Rod Show has officially gone global, as the Mariners' uber-prospect carried the D.R. offense through the qualifying rounds and will now take another break from demolishing MiLB pitching to help his country go for gold.
GROUP B
South Korea
It seems a little weird to call them the defending champions when it has been 13 years, but this team did win the gold medal in 2008. There are even two players from that gold medal squad competing in 2021: former Orioles/Phillies outfielder Hyun-Soo Kim and catcher Min-Ho Kang, a longtime KBO star currently having another excellent season with the Samsung Lions. The MLB season will prevent stars such as Hyun-Jin Ryu and Ha-Seong Kim from participating, but this team has plenty of KBO greats capable of winning gold once again. Like NPB, the KBO takes an Olympic break to allow its best players to represent their country.
C Eui-ji Yang: Min-ho Kang is an absolute legend, but he likely won’t be starting for Korea behind the dish. That will likely be Yang, who is in the middle of a bona fide MVP campaign for the NC Dinos after starring for them in 2020 en route to their first KBO title. He’s like Yadier Molina if Yadi were also one of the five best hitters in the league.
1B Baek-ho Kang: I’m not exaggerating when I say that Baek-ho is currently my favorite baseball player on earth. No player besides maybe Juan Soto brings me as much joy when he steps in the batter's box. This guy is essentially KBO’s Vlad Jr. and Soto mixed into one. He’ll turn 22 during the Olympics and has been flirting with .400 all year, helping the KT Wiz stay in first place for much of the season.
OF Jung-hoo Lee: Baek-ho might be the most fun player to watch in KBO, but Lee is probably the best overall talent. The 22-year-old outfielder has been spectacular for Kiwoom and could very well make the leap to MLB after the 2023 season.
USA
We’ll have a whole Team USA preview next week, once the tournament begins, because this roster deserves a much closer look. It is a truly fascinating mix of former big-league stars, exciting prospects and guys playing overseas.
RHP Edwin Jackson: I just love that the dude with the MLB record for most franchises played for will get to don yet another uniform as he suits up for Team USA in Tokyo. E-Jax is a legend.
SS Eddy Alvarez: Alvarez is not just one of the best stories in this tournament or even on Team USA. He’ll be one of the most talked about athletes in the entire Olympics. As he should be! It’s incredible!
OF Bubba Starling: It seems unlikely at this point that Starling will turn into the type of talent the Royals envisioned when they selected him in the first round of the historically loaded 2011 draft, but it’s still cool to see him get this kind of opportunity in Tokyo. I’m always rooting for Bubba.
Israel
Team Israel shocked everyone when they finished sixth at the 2017 World Baseball Classic, and momentum has continued to build since then, culminating in a first-place finish at the Europe/Africa qualifying tournament that clinched the team a spot in Tokyo. As their program has developed rapidly and shown the ability to compete at an extremely high level internationally, more players with Jewish heritage have shown interest in competing for Team Israel in the future.
2B Ian Kinsler: His MLB career might be over, but I’m excited to have Kinsler back in the spotlight so we can all appreciate the fact that he was quietly one of the best second basemen of his generation — if not ever. Look at the numbers: 54.1 WAR!!!
INF Danny Valencia: If there’s one thing I know for sure, it’s that if Valencia gets to face some left-handed pitching in this tournament, this Israel lineup is going to look a whole lot scarier. An all-time platoon superhero, Danny Valencia.
RHP Alon Leichman: I had to save the best for last. There are all kinds of fantastic backgrounds and stories up and down the Olympic rosters, but I cannot get over Leichman — currently the Mariners' Double-A pitching coach — suiting up for the Olympics and competing against some players he is literally game-planning against as his day job. I love it so much.
Jordan Shusterman is half of @CespedesBBQ and a baseball analyst for FOX Sports. He lives in D.C. but is a huge Seattle Mariners fan and loves watching the KBO, which means he doesn't get a lot of sleep. You can follow him on Twitter @j_shusterman_.
