Team Japan, Led by Ohtani, Finalizes Roster for World Baseball Classic

The Japanese National Team, led by MLB stars Shohei Ohtani, Yu Darvish and Seiya Suzuki, has finalized its roster for the 2023 World Baseball Classic. Here's a look at Japan's final roster for the WBC, as of Jan. 26.

The Japanese National Team has finalized its roster for the 2023 World Baseball Classic

The club will be led by Major Leaguers Shohei Ohtani, Seiya Suzuki, Yu Darvish, Lars Nootbaar and Masataka Yoshida.

Led by Ichiro Suzuki, Japan won the first ever World Baseball Classic in 2006. The Japanese then won the next WBC in 2009, and placed third in the 2013 and 2017 events.

This spring, Japan hopes to win its first World Baseball Classic title in 14 years.

Shawn Spradling has been rounding up the rosters for each country's national team for the 2023 event. Thursday, he tweeted Japan's finalized roster.

Here's a look at Japan's finalized roster, as of Jan. 26:

Starting Lineup

C Yuhei Nakamura

1B Hotaka Yamakawa

2B Shugo Maki

3B Munetaka Murakami

LF Masataka Yoshida

CF Lars Nootbaar

RF Seiya Suzuki

DH Shohei Ohtani

Pitching Rotation

Shohei Ohtani

Yu Darvish

Yoshinobu Yamamoto

Roku Sasaki

Bullpen

Atsuki Yuasa

Hiromi Itoh

Hiroto Takahashi

Hiroya Miyagi

Keiji Takahashi

Ryoji Kuribayashi

Shosei Togo

Shota Imanagra

Taisei Ota

Yuki Matsui

Yuki Udagawa

Bench

Takumi Ohshiro

Takuya Kai

Kazuma Okamoto

Takumu Nakano

Tetsuto Yamada

Kensuke Kondoh

Ukyo Shuto

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More World Baseball Classic Rosters:

• Team Cuba Roster
• Team Dominican Republic Roster
• Team Japan Roster
• Puerto Rico Roster
• Team Venezuela Roster

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