IV WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup preview: Chinese Taipei-Colombia to open 11-day extravaganza

The IV WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup opens on Thursday, 13 October, with host and World No. 2 Chinese Taipei taking on 2020 bronze medal winner and World No. 11 Colombia at Tianmu Stadium in Taipei City.

Chinese Taipei will count on right-hander Che Yu Hung, the best pitcher of the III U-23 World Cup which was held last year in Mexico, and on fireballer Zhong-A Zhuang Chen, another U-23 World Cup alumnus.

Manager Cheng Hsun Hsieh is confident about his pitching and believes that if they get offensive support, particularly from infielders Yu Wei Lin and Sheng Ping Lin and from slugger Sung En Tseng, the team can get to the medal round.

Chinese Taipei have competed in all four previous editions of the tournament, winning the first edition - which was for the U-21 age group - in 2014 before finishing 7th, 5th and 6th.

Colombia, who have played in two editions of the tournament finishing seventh on home soil in 2018, has six players from the bronze medal-winning team back on the roster under new manager Jorge Cortes.

Group A

Group A also includes the defending U-23 World Champions, World No. 6, Venezuela and World No. 1 Japan.

World Champion manager Carlos Garcia has only two players returning from the team, which won the title last year - relievers Oscar Abreu and Carlos Valero. The roster is entirely made of professionals. Venezuela finished eighth in the first two editions of the U-23 Baseball World Cup before claiming bronze in 2018 and the title in last year's edition.

Japan's manager Akio Ishii, who served as a coach under future Olympic champion Atsunori Inaba on the 2018 silver medal team, selected a group of amateur players with limited international experience from the Industrial Leagues, college sophomores and juniors and high school graduates. Infielder, and Samurai Japan debutant Jin Nakamura, will serve as the captain. Japan, who missed last year's edition, have collected two silver medals on top of the 2016 title in their three other previous appearances.

World No. 18 Germany and No. 26 South Africa complete the group, which will start playing in Taichung and Dou Liou on Friday, 14 October, and both will be looking to improve on their 11th place finishes recorded in their only and second appearances respectively in the past at this level.

Group B

Taipei City will host Group B, which could potentially see a tighter race for the three Super Round spots.

World No. 3 and 2014 bronze medallists Korea count 19 professionals on the roster, including hard-throwing right-hander Sung Dong Hyun, who helped Korea finish second at the U-18 Baseball World Cup 2017. He currently plays in the KBO's LG Twins futures team. Left-hander Saang Yung Lee posted a 10-3 record for the Korea Armed Forces and outfielder Se Jin Cho starred at the minor league level for KBO's Lotte Giants.

No. 4 Mexico finished first (2018) and second (last year) in the last two editions under manager Jose Reyes. He will have switch-hitting catcher, and MLB's top prospect, Brandon Valenzuela and reliever Alemao Hernandez back from last year's team. Right-hander Alan Mundo, who posted a 2.29 earned run average (ERA) at Class A Advanced for the San Diego Padres, looks like the pitcher to watch.

No. 9 Cuba finished fourth last year, and first-year manager Alain Alvarez said their goal is to improve that result. Cuba has a roster of players from the island's National League (Serie Nacional). Right-hander Robert Hernandez was a top-rated MLB prospect before he decided to return to Cuba.

Manager Sydney De Jong aims to lead World No. 8 Netherlands to the Super Round. His roster counts on experienced players such as utility Delano Selassa and outfielder Jeandro Tromp, who have already played for the full National Team, and younger prospects such as collegiate standouts Keber Rog and Lenin Ashby. Shortstop Shervyen Newton started 97 games at the Class Advanced level for the New York Mets. The Netherlands previously finished ninth in 2014 and 10th in 2018 and last year.

No. 10 Australia and No. 16 Puerto Rico have former MLB stars as managers.

Puerto Rico's Juan Gonzalez said that he has a lot of expectations about his team with a mix of professionals (11 play affiliated baseball), college and Puerto Rico's Double-A league players.

Australia's David Nilsson is sure his team will score runs. Infielder Jarryd Dale appeared in 10 games at the Triple-A level for the San Diego Padres, while left-handed slugger Rixon Wingrove hit 12 home runs for the Philadelphia Phillies at Class A Advanced.

Australia claimed bronze in 2016 while Puerto Rico's only previous appearance in this age group resulted in an eighth place finish in 2018.