Touching Base: MLB Teams Making Sure World Baseball Classic Stars Stay Healthy

Nearly three years ago, Edwin Diaz got Teoscar Hernandez looking with an inside slider on the 10th pitch of the at-bat and raised his hands into the air as his Team Puerto Rico teammates emptied out of the dugout to celebrate in Miami. Díaz’s spotless work in the ninth preserved an upset win over the Dominican Republic to advance to the quarterfinals of the 2023 World Baseball Classic. The Puerto Rican players marked the occasion by hopping up and down in front of the mound. Moments later, the star closer was on the ground grabbing at his knee. In a freak accident amid the revelry, Díaz tore his patellar tendon, forcing him out for the entire 2023 season. Three years later, the fluke injury has not deterred him from returning to the competition, especially with his country set to host Pool A in San Juan starting March 6. “That was an easy decision,” Díaz said. “It’ll be my first time playing in front of my people in Puerto Rico, so that was an easy ‘yes’ when I knew the WBC was going to be there.” Nevertheless, the devastating injury to Díaz is among the reasons why it has been more difficult for other prominent MLB players to receive clearance to play in the tournament this year — fellow Puerto Rico standouts Francisco Lindor and Carlos Correa, for example, are among the notable standouts who weren’t able to get insured — and why many MLB managers still hold their breath when their players perform in the highly-competitive competition just weeks ahead of Opening Day. “We want our players to play well and want them to show off,” said Padres manager Craig Stammen. “The other part, it’s all in the back of our heads, we want them to stay healthy and be ready for us, not have a catastrophic injury that sometimes happens in the WBC.” The Díaz injury was the most significant one in 2023, though Jose Altuve also missed the first 43 games of the regular season that year after fracturing his thumb when he was hit by a pitch in the WBC. Altuve only played in 90 games that year, marking the only full season since 2012 in which he has played fewer than 120 games. In 2017, Miguel Cabrera injured his back during the WBC and went on to have the worst offensive season of his career to that point while playing through pain for most of it. Sometimes, especially with pitchers, it’s not clear at the moment how the wear-and-tear of throwing high-leverage innings early in the calendar might lead to issues later in the year. In 2017, Drew Smyly struck out eight batters in 4.2 innings against Venezuela in a WBC game on March 17. Two weeks later, he was diagnosed with a flexor strain. He eventually needed Tommy John surgery and did not throw a pitch that season for the Mariners. In 2023, Shohei Ohtani and Sandy Alcántara both started the year pitching in the WBC and ended it undergoing Tommy John surgery. It’s impossible to know with any certainty if the early start led to the end result, but it’s another example of why teams worry more about pitchers than position players in the event. “That’s not a WBC thing,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell clarified, “that’s an everyday thing.” Counsell noted that the WBC is a thrilling event for players who get to play deep into the tournament, and all he is worried about is that his players who are participating — there are many from the Cubs, with Alex Bregman (USA), Pete Crow-Armstrong (USA), Matthew Boyd (USA), Seiya Suzuki (Japan), Javier Assad (Mexico), Daniel Palencia (Venezuela), Miguel Amaya (Panama) and Jameson Taillon (Canada) all going — take ownership of their preparation. “Because you don’t necessarily have the whole organization structuring everything quite the way they would if you were in your team’s camp,” Counsell explained. “That’s really the onus that kind of falls on the players.” In addition to Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and Wandy Peralta playing for the Dominican Republic, Xander Bogaerts playing for the Netherlands and Ron Marinaccio playing for Italy, the Padres will also be sending Mason Miller, the star of their esteemed bullpen, to close out games for Team USA. Weeks before players left for the WBC, Stammen said Padres pitching coach Ruben Niebla was in discussion with Team USA pitching coach Andy Pettitte about Miller’s usage. Miller and the Padres’ brass were also in constant communication with each other before he left to join Team USA, making sure his build-up for the season is where he wants and needs it to be. “We’d be lying to you if we weren’t cautious about it and trying to figure out the best way to get Mason ready for that scenario,” Stammen told me. “Mason’s said a lot of good things to us about how he thinks that’ll look, but in the end it’s going to be up to him in those situations to tell Mark DeRosa and Andy Pettite, like, ‘Hey, this is how I’d like to be used, this will get me ready for my season while also helping Team USA hopefully compete for the WBC championship.” Díaz, now in his first year with the Dodgers, will be trying to create more positive moments at this tournament with Puerto Rico. The defending World Series champions will also be sending Will Smith to join Team USA, Hyeseong Kim to join Team Korea and Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto to join Team Japan. Ohtani will only be hitting, which minimizes much of the risk, but Yamamoto will be Japan’s ace fresh off winning World Series MVP honors after throwing 526 pitches in the postseason and pitching on back-to-back days in Games 6 and 7. “I just know the level of intensity that they will have, and so it’s more just making sure the work up to this point, that we’re putting them in the best positions to go take on that intense atmosphere,” said Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman. “It is impossible to tell those guys to dial it back in any way, and nor would I do that.” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts claims he’s “not too concerned” about Yamamoto because he believes the pitcher will be prepared and understands his limitations, despite the high-pressure, high-intensity, highly-competitive environment that will await. “Once we all came to the decision that he’s gonna play and participate, I’m just rooting for him to pitch well and stay healthy,” Roberts said. “So I don’t think I’m looking at it any other way.” Beyond the conversations that MLB teams and WBC managers are having about individual players, the tournament itself provides some protection. Per WBC rules, pitchers can’t throw more than 65 pitches in a game in the first round, 80 pitches in the second round or 95 pitches in the championship round (unless he needs more to complete an at-bat). In addition, pitchers who throw 30 pitches in a game will need at least one day of rest, and pitchers who throw at least 50 pitches in a game will need at least four days of rest before pitching again. Relievers also won’t be able to throw three days in a row. “Anybody will tell you anytime you take the mound, whether it’s a spring training game or WBC game, there are risks associated with that,” Giants and Great Britain pitcher Tristan Beck told me. “But I think they do as good a job as they can with pitch limits, days off. They take it pretty seriously, and that makes it comfortable on our end.” It’s a risk that everyone who is participating is willing to take in order to represent their country in an international competition that continues drawing more eyes and acclaim. Before he left Dodgers camp to join Puerto Rico again, Díaz was asked if the WBC or World Series meant more. “I haven’t had the chance to play in the World Series, but I heard people say it’s about the same,” Díaz said. “So when I have a chance to play in the World Series, I’ll tell you guys how it feels.” Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on X at @RowanKavner.