WBC Semifinals: Japan vs. Puerto Rico

Before I go over the recently-eliminated Team USA, I have an opportunity to do something I haven't been able to do since last baseball season: live-blog a baseball game. So rather than wait until one of these teams is eliminated to analyze their roster, I'll give my real-time reactions. This matchup features two-time WBC champion Japan and treasonous United States territory Puerto Rico, who eliminated their colonial overlords in Round 2 last week. Let's start with Puerto Rico's batting order, since they came up first and also scored first. (Alright, I'm not exactly real-time, so sue me.)

Leadoff hitter Angel Pagan is one of six players in the starting lineup to have played in the majors last year. He's playing in his home stadium, having just signed a new four-year deal with the Giants. Batting next is Irving Falu, who had very limited playing time last year with the Royals, but based on his AAA numbers (16.1 points per game), he could very well be their second baseman of the future. His job is to set the table for a past Royals mainstay Carlos Beltran. The seven-time All-Star played center field for P.R. but now he's been relegated to DH since the start of Round 2. The cleanup hitter is one of the top catchers in the game Yadier Molina, whose older brother Jose is backing him up on the bench. Shortstop Mike Aviles, who found a bit of a power stroke last year with a career high 13 HR, bats fifth and is responsible for the only run of the game so far. Surprisingly he's hitting in front of Puerto Rico's top point scorer Alex Rios, of the White Sox. Those last four players also represented their country (territory?) in the last WBC.

All six above-mentioned major leaguers came to bat in the first inning, whereas it took Japan two full innings to send six batters to the plate. In fact, Puerto Rico pitcher Mario Santiago is absolutely dealing, having retired 10 straight batters before Japan got their first hit in the bottom of the fourth. That hit came off the bat of Hirokazu Ibata, a player I saw in person when I visited Japan in 2005. One of the many reasons I'm glad I have a chance to watch this game in particular, because some of the more dedicated Japanese fans, of which there are plenty in attendance in the Bay Area, bring their trumpets to the game and play personalized theme songs for each of the top players. It had been eight years since I heard the chant "GAN-BA-RE I-BA-TA!" and yet the melody still echoes in my mind. Ibata was left on base, as neither No. 3 hitter and former batting champ Seiichi Uchikawa (he hit .378 back in 2008) or catcher Shinnosuke Abe (one of the 13  best non-MLB players in the tournament profiled by ESPN.com) could come through, and as we head to the bottom of the fifth inning, Puerto Rico still has a 1-0 lead.

UPDATE: Despite his mastery of the Japanese lineup, Puerto Rico starter Mario Santiago was chased from the ballgame after 4 1/3 innings due to an apparent injury - he left with a 2-0 count on Japan's No. 7 hitter Sho Nakata and was visibly upset about it. He gave way to Puerto Rico's second-most used reliever, Jose De La Torre, who split his 2012 between Cleveland and Boston's AA and AAA affiliates. Santiago spent his 2012 in the Korean Baseball Organization, then signed with the Dodgers, who I'm sure are concerned about the status of his arm. After completing the walk to Nakata, De La Torre got his team out of the jam, striking out Ichiro Suzuki's idol, 40-year-old first baseman Atsunori Inaba, and third baseman Nobuhiro Matsuda to hang on to the slim lead.

In the top of the sixth, the night was also done for Japan's starter Kenta Maeda. The point leader for Japan notched a staggering 2,548 points for the Hiroshima Carp and threw a pretty good semifinal game overall - he was a bit wild at the start (one of his two first inning walks came around to score the game's only run), but what he lacked in control, he made up for in two great defensive plays to get the lead runner at second base, erasing some Puerto Rican baserunning threats. He gave way to Atsushi Nohmi of the Hanshin Tigers, who made his only start of the tournament in game 1 of Round 2.

There will be more about these team's rotations later, as there is currently some excitement going on. Uchikawa cranked a two-out triple to the left-center field power alley past a diving Angel Pagan, which chased De La Torre out of the game. Lefty Xavier Cedeno, one of just two Puerto Rican pitchers to spend time in the majors in 2012 (the other being veteran lefty J.C. Romero, who we'll likely see later given the lefty-lefty combo in the middle of Japan's order), came in and struck out Abe to end the threat. But the threat was just starting for Puerto Rico, which just tacked on another two runs with a huge home run by Alex Rios. The way these Puerto Rican pitchers are picking apart the Japanese with their lightning quick style of play, I don't know if they can recover at the rate of one run per inning.

After the home run, Nohmi gave way to Tadashi Settsu, the second-highest point scorer on the team (2,374 points for the Softbank Hawks), but he's been used exclusively as a reliever in the tournament. Neither of the pitchers in this game played for Team Japan in 2009's tournament. However, the next reliever to enter the game, Toshiya Sugiuchi of the Nippon Professional Baseball champion Yomiuri Giants, was with the team last time around. In the two rounds prior to this game Sugiuchi had only made two relief appearances, despite the fact that he's wearing number 18, the most prestigious number for a Japanese pitcher. The best pitcher in terms of points per game (94.4 PPG for the Rakuten Golden Eagles) is also the only Japanese pitcher featured in the aforementioned ESPN.com article, Masahiro Tanaka. Strangely enough, he started a game in Round 1, but then has made only relief appearances. The other Round 2 starter (aside from Nohmi and Maeda) was Kenji Otonari, a lefty for Softbank.

UPDATE: As we know, Mario Santiago started this game for Puerto Rico, just the second game he started in the tournament. Interestingly enough, two of the other three starters on the roster spent their 2012 seasons with the NPB: Orlando Roman pitched pretty effectively for the Yakult Swallows and Giancarlo Alvarado didn't do much for the Yokohama BayStars. The fourth starter on the roster is the only one to have spent time with a major league organization last year, and in fact, he was with two: Nelson Figueroa, who spent time with the Red Sox and the Yankees at the AAA level. All three non-Santiago pitchers were also with Team Puerto Rico in 2009's classic. The only other returning pitcher for Puerto Rico is the team's de facto closer Fernando Cabrera

Japan's new pitcher, Hideaki Wakui, the closer for the Seibu Lions last year, was with Team Japan in 2009. He's one of only four pitchers on the roster who was a reliever in 2012, Team Japan opting to fill their pitching staff 2/3 of the way with starting pitchers. This is the opposite strategy of Team USA, which had just about as many starters as there were games with the rest of the roster full of relievers. While we're talking about team makeup strategy, I'd like to note a difference in Team Japan's 2013 squad as opposed to their 2009 squad. Four years ago, the Japanese team was veritably stacked with NPB stars who had made the jump to the majors: Ichiro Suzuki led off, the bottom of the order comprised of outfielder Kosuke Fukudome, catcher Kenji Johjima, and infielder Akinori Iwamura, while All-WBC pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka led the staff to both of their championships. This year, however, not one current major league player graces Team Japan's roster (Kazuo Matsui is on the team, but he last played in the majors in 2010).

On the flip side, five stars from Japan's 2009 team have made their way over to the majors. Yu Darvish migrated from the Nippon Ham Fighters to become the ace of the Texas Rangers. Hisashi Iwakuma left his former team of Rakuten to earn a spot in the Seattle Mariners rotation. Norichika Aoki (the No. 3 hitter for Japan in 2009) is a starting outfielder with the Milwaukee Brewers. And reliever Kyuji Fujikawa and shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima are projected to make their major league debuts in 2013.

Meanwhile, a current Japanese star who is in no position to head over to the states at age 37, Hirokazu Ibata just drove in Japan's first run. A single by Uchikawa chased Puerto Rico's Randy Fontanez and brought up (who would have guessed) J.C. Romero. Now, he ended up getting Abe to ground out, but the more interesting play was when Uchikawa was hung out to dry on a failed double steal attempt, where Ibata at second just stopped running in front of him. I don't know if I've ever seen a caught stealing unassisted by the catcher before, but that's how Yadier Molina ended up getting the second out. With Puerto Rico's lead down to just two, we'll head to the top of the ninth.

UPDATE: Fernando Cabrera is warming up in Puerto Rico's bullpen to pitch the ninth, so it looks like two of Puerto Rico's most interesting pitchers will go unused in this game. The first is Jose Berrios, a Minnesota prospect mentioned in that ESPN.com article, although he spent 2012 in Rookie Ball, so it will likely be a while since we'll see him in any meaningful games. The other is Hiram Burgos, who broke 2,000 points and 70 PPG while pitching primarily for Milwaukee's AA affiliate. The last notable player on Puerto Rico's roster, and the final time I'll reference that ESPN.com article, I promise, is Eddie Rosario another Twins who played second base and center field for Minnesota's class-A affiliate.

Hey, it looks like Fernando Cabrera is going to stay in the bullpen for now, as J.C. Romero stays on to pitch the ninth. But out he comes, as he brought the tying run to the plate by walking Itoi after a questionable foul ball call earlier in the at-bat that almost got catcher Yadier Molina tossed out of the game. But it doesn't matter as Cabrera takes care of Nakata and pinch hitter Kazuo Matsui to get the save and advance Puerto Rico to advance to the final game. And how classy is Team Japan, lining up on the third base line and bowing in respect to the fans and to the opposing team. I have to say I'm glad that Japan won't complete their three-peat, but I'm disappointed that the team that knocked out the USA is moving on. We'll see who they play after tomorrow's game between the undefeated Dominican Republic and the team that beat them twice in 2009, the Kingdom of the Netherlands.