Japan downs Cuba

In a rematch of their 2006 championship game, Japan defeats Cuba, 6-0. This is no surprise considering Daisuke Matsuzaka started for the Japanese against Aroldis Chapman. Japan is now in control of Pool 1.

The whirling Darvish

I'd been waiting for somebody to provide some info on Japanese ace Yu Darvish. ESPN's Keith Law finally did, and it all sounds good.

Darvish is the top pitcher in the Japanese major leagues right now. He earned the 2007 Sawamura Award (the Nippon Professional Baseball equivalent to the Cy Young Award) and the 2007 Pacific League MVP Award. He has posted ERAs less than 2.00 in each of the past two years, and struck out 418 batters in 408.1 innings over the past two years. Darvish is unusually tall for a Japanese pitcher; he's listed at 6-foot-5, and only one other pitcher on Team Japan is listed at taller than 6-1, the 6-3 Hisashi Iwakuma.

When you're just 21 years old and can command a fastball that touches the mid-nineties plus a good breaking pitch, you've got a shot to be great. I like his strange delivery, as well, as kinks in the windup can make it that much tougher for hitters to get their timing down.

Far East fighting sleep deprivation

A thought on the second round and finals of the World Baseball Classic, which I'm sure has come up with the tournament's planners: Japan and South Korea must be at a distinct disadvantage due to playing their first round games in Tokyo.

Opening their pool on March 5th, the Asian teams got a head start in the tournament. They played three games a couple of days before the rest of the tournament field got to playing games. That allowed the Asian teams a chance to finish Pool A on March 9, a full six days before they're due to play in round two.

No, I don't believe the Japanese and South Korean teams that advanced from the pool will be rusty due to a perceived layoff (they played games against the Cubs and Dodgers respectively on Wednesday). The problem is the time change they experience in coming to play second round games in San Diego. Pacific Standard Time is 16 hours behind Japan, which means the Japanese and Korean players experience an 8-hour jet lag in flying to the west coast. Pilots say for each hour lost/gained of jet lag it takes one day to recover. That means the Japanese and South Koreans would still be feeling strong effects of sleep patter adjustment when they start playing again this weekend. The Japanese opener against Cuba on Sunday is at 1 pm in San Diego, when it's 5 am back home.

The one thing in the Far Easterners' favor? They started the 2006 tournament in Tokyo as well, and with seven days to recover, the Japanese came to the U.S. and won the whole thing.

Cuba wins Pool B

Cuba's 16-4 Pool B throttling of Mexico gives them the pool title and a consolation prize moving forward: they're forced to play Japan in the second round's Pool 1. That's a rematch of the 2006 World Baseball Classic final, a game Japan won. Mexico faces South Korea, the Pool A Champions, who lost their two game matchup with Japan with a 14-3 aggregate score. They won the pool title, however, 1-0.

South Korea wins Pool A

South Korea took advantage of needing just one win over undefeated Japan, advancing as the top seed from Pool A in a 1-0 nail-biter in Tokyo. Despite defeating the South Korean team 14-2 in a mercy rule game just two days earlier, Japan winds up second in the pool, even with a 14-3 aggregate score over the Koreans.

As I outlined earlier, this doesn't seem fair to Japan, but with pitching limits strictly enforced in the World Baseball Classic, asking two teams to play a one-off championship after South Korea got even would seem to be a sticking point.

Now, if favored Cuba gets through Pool B in first place it could set up a second round opener between the Cubans and Japanese, a rematch of the 2006 WBC title game.

Japan jumps Korea

Japan whipped Korea 14-2 to become the first team to advance from pool play in the 2009 World Baseball Classic.

All five MLB players in the Japanese starting lineup contributed in the lopsided win: Ichiro recorded three hits and three runs. Kenji Johjima had three hits, two runs and two RBI. Kosuke Fukudome had a hit and a run. Akinori Iwamura scored twice on a pair of walks.

Daisuke Matsuzaka picked up the win, giving up two runs in four innings.

Go East, middle-aged man

Former White Sox, Phillies and Padres infielder Tad Iguchi is apparently out of the MLB market and heading back to Japan. With a .232 average last year and declining numbers over the past few seasons, this makes sense. He's hit just 11 home runs since 2006.

Fantasy Impact:Iguchi was becoming a marginal player at best. He lost his starting job in Chicago, then failed to earn one in Philadelphia or San Diego. The 34-year-old is a backup when he's in the States, but it looks like he won't be this season.

Matsui to miss WBC

Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman says Hideki Matsui's recovery from left knee surgery will keep him out of the World Baseball Classic in March. There's no word on Ichiro or Daisuke Matsuzaka playing, but this is a blow for the reigning champions.