Since the World Baseball Classic’s inception in 2006, there has only been one team that has reached the semifinals in every tournament.
That team is Japan.
Japan has a wealth of MLB talent on their roster from Shohei Ohtani all the way to Lars Nootbaar.
On Thursday, Team Japan defeated Team Italy by a final score of 9-3, punching their ticket to the semifinals.
Ohtani led the way for Team Japan on Thursday, as he allowed just two runs on four hits over 4.2 innings of work, walking just one batter while striking out five.
He also picked up a hit.
On Twitter, the official account for the World Baseball Classic tweeted a cool graphic to celebrate Japan’s impressive feat of reaching the semifinals in every WBC.
Japan is the only team to reach the semifinals in EVERY #WorldBaseballClassic. pic.twitter.com/7LKfyjTlWk
— World Baseball Classic (@WBCBaseball) March 16, 2023
This is quite a run that Team Japan is on.
Not only did Ohtani have an impressive game, but third baseman Kazuma Okamoto drove in five of Japan’s nine runs with two hits, including a three-run home run in the third inning.
Masataka Yoshida, who was signed in the offseason by the Boston Red Sox, hit a solo shot in the bottom of the seventh and ultimately drove in two of Japan’s nine runs.
Now Japan is headed to the next round of the tournament and remain undefeated in this year’s WBC.
But the talent on their roster has led them this far and has helped them continue such an impressive run.
Japan’s opponent will be determined over the weekend.
We’ll see how far they can continue this run.
