Coming off a comfortable win over Great Britain in their 2023 World Baseball Classic opener on Saturday, Team USA faces a stiffer challenge on Sunday. Their second game comes against a Mexico team that features plenty of seasoned major-league talent -- Randy Arozarena, Alex Verdugo, Rowdy Tellez, and Luis Urías among them. While the U.S., thanks in large measure to a lineup stuffed with All-Stars, profiles as the favorite in Pool C, Mexico figures to be their toughest competition.
The Americans are guaranteed to play at least four games in the tournament, one apiece against each of the teams in their pool (Great Britain, Mexico, Canada, and Colombia). After that, the top two teams in each pool will advance to what amounts to a single-elimination eight-team tournament. The Americans are the defending WBC champions, having won the tournament the last time it was held, back in 2017. Will fate be as kind to this year's squad? We'll know more after Sunday's big game. You can view the full tournament schedule by clicking here. Now let's move on to how you can watch Team USA's clash with Mexico.
Team USA vs. Mexico how to watch
Date: Sunday, Mar. 12 | Time: 10:00 p.m. ET
Location: Chase Field (Phoenix, AZ)
TV channel: FS1 | Live stream: fuboTV (try for free)
Odds: USA -320; MEX +250; O/U: 9.5 (via Caesars Sportsbook)
Starting pitchers: RHP Nick Martinez vs. LHP Patrick Sandoval
Players to Watch
Sandoval, the Angels' 26-year-old lefty, is getting the nod for Mexico, and he'll face a major challenge in navigating the U.S. lineup. He's a quality hurler, though. Over the last two seasons, Sandoval in 41 starts and 235 2/3 innings has pitched to a 3.17 ERA/132 ERA+ with a K/BB ratio of 2.55. He boasts a five-pitch repertoire, and he throws the fastball, change-up, or slider more than three-fourths of the time. He's also got fairly strong groundball tendencies.
On the U.S., all those platoon-advantaged righty bats will be worth watching, and this game will likely hinge on how well Sandoval keeps them in check. Said right-handed bats include the imposing likes of Mike Trout, Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado, Mookie Betts, Trea Turner, and Tim Anderson. Sandoval for his MLB career has shown fairly extreme platoon splits, and Team USA is extremely well positioned to take advantage of that tendency.
Prediction
Given the strength of the respective lineups, we'll say this one is a modestly high-scoring affair. The U.S. attack, with all those potent right-handed bats, gets the nod.
Pick: Team USA 7, Mexico 4
