# 2023 World Baseball Classic Pool B

The 2023 World Baseball Classic Pool B was the second of four pools of the 2023 World Baseball Classic that took place from March 9–13 at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan. The top two teams automatically qualified for the top eight knockout stage, beginning with the quarterfinal in Tokyo and the remaining of the bracket in Miami.
The teams in Pool B consisted of Australia, China, newcomer Czech Republic, hosts Japan, and South Korea. Japan won the pool and advanced to the quarterfinals, along with Australia as runners-up. China was relegated to the 2026 World Baseball Classic qualification round through their win percentage.
Shohei Ohtani of Japan was named the most valuable player of Pool B.

## Teams

| Draw position | Team | Pot | Confederation | Method of qualification | Date of qualification | Finals appearance | Last appearance | Previous best performance | WBSC Rankings |
| B1 | Japan | 1 | WBSC Asia | Hosts + 2017 participants | March 6, 2017 | 5th | 2017 | Champions (2006, 2009) | 1 |
| B2 | South Korea | 2 | WBSC Asia | 2017 participants | March 6, 2017 | 5th | 2017 | Runners-up (2009) | 4 |
| B3 | Australia | 3 | WBSC Oceania | 2017 participants | March 6, 2017 | 5th | 2017 | Pool stage (2006, 2009, 2013, 2017) | 10 |
| B4 | China | 4 | WBSC Asia | 2017 participants | March 6, 2017 | 5th | 2017 | Pool stage (2006, 2009, 2013, 2017) | 30 |
| B5 | Czech Republic | 5 | WBSC Europe | Qualifiers Pool A runners-up | September 21, 2022 | 1st | — | — | 15 |

## Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | RF | RA | PCT | GB | Qualification |
| 1 | Japan (H) | 4 | 4 | 0 | 38 | 8 | 1.000 | — | Advance to quarterfinals Qualification for 2026 World Baseball Classic |
| 2 | Australia | 4 | 3 | 1 | 29 | 19 | .750 | 1 | Advance to quarterfinals Qualification for 2026 World Baseball Classic |
| 3 | South Korea | 4 | 2 | 2 | 40 | 26 | .500 | 2 | Qualification for 2026 World Baseball Classic |
| 4 | Czech Republic | 4 | 1 | 3 | 16 | 30 | .250 | 3 | Qualification for 2026 World Baseball Classic |
| 5 | China | 4 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 50 | .000 | 4 | |

## Summary

| Date | Local time | Road team | Score | Home team | Inn. | Venue | Game duration | Attendance | Boxscore |
| Mar 9, 2023 | 12:00 JST | Australia | 8–7 | South Korea | | Tokyo Dome | 3:46 | 15,540 | Boxscore |
| Mar 9, 2023 | 19:00 JST | China | 1–8 | Japan | | Tokyo Dome | 3:41 | 41,616 | Boxscore |
| Mar 10, 2023 | 12:00 JST | Czech Republic | 8–5 | China | | Tokyo Dome | 3:54 | 15,625 | Boxscore |
| Mar 10, 2023 | 19:00 JST | South Korea | 4–13 | Japan | | Tokyo Dome | 4:04 | 41,629 | Boxscore |
| Mar 11, 2023 | 12:00 JST | China | 2–12 | Australia | 7 | Tokyo Dome | 2:52 | 15,708 | Boxscore |
| Mar 11, 2023 | 19:00 JST | Czech Republic | 2–10 | Japan | | Tokyo Dome | 3:26 | 41,637 | Boxscore |
| Mar 12, 2023 | 12:00 JST | Czech Republic | 3–7 | South Korea | | Tokyo Dome | 2:55 | 16,129 | Boxscore |
| Mar 12, 2023 | 19:00 JST | Japan | 7–1 | Australia | | Tokyo Dome | 3:18 | 41,664 | Boxscore |
| Mar 13, 2023 | 12:00 JST | Australia | 8–3 | Czech Republic | | Tokyo Dome | 3:04 | 16,641 | Boxscore |
| Mar 13, 2023 | 19:00 JST | South Korea | 22–2 | China | 5 | Tokyo Dome | 2:37 | 14,442 | Boxscore |

## Matches
### Australia vs South Korea

March 9, 2023 12:00 PM JST at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan :
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Australia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 10 | 0 |
| South Korea | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 |
| WP: Jon Kennedy (1–0) LP: Kim Won-jung (0–1) Sv: Josh Guyer (1) Home runs: AUS: Tim Kennelly (1), Robbie Glendinning (1), Robbie Perkins (1) KOR: Yang Eui-ji (1) Attendance: 15,540 Umpires: HP – Ramon De Jesus, 1B – Fabrizio Fabrizi, 2B – Adam Hamari, 3B – Chan-Jung Chang Boxscore |||||||||||||

### China vs Japan

March 9, 2023 19:00 PM JST at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan :
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| China | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| Japan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | X | 8 | 9 | 0 |
| WP: Shohei Ohtani (1–0) LP: Wang Xiang (0–1) Home runs: CHN: Liang Pei (1) JPN: Shugo Maki (1) Attendance: 41,616 Umpires: HP - Stu Scheurwater, 1B - Cuti Suarez, 2B - Ben May, 3B - Delfin Colon Boxscore |||||||||||||

### Czech Republic vs China

March 10, 2023 12:00 PM JST at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan :
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Czech Republic | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 1 |
| China | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 1 |
| WP: Marek Minarik (1–0) LP: Hai-Cheng Gong (0–1) Home runs: CZE: Matej Mensik (1), Martin Muzik (1) CHN: None Attendance: 15,625 Umpires: HP - Chan-Jung Chang, 1B - Pat Hoberg, 2B - Ben May, 3B - Fabrizio Fabrizi Boxscore |||||||||||||

### South Korea vs Japan

March 10, 2023 19:00 PM JST at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan :
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| South Korea | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 1 |
| Japan | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 0 | X | 13 | 13 | 1 |
| WP: Yu Darvish (1–0) LP: Kwang-hyun Kim (0–1) Home runs: KOR: Yang Eui-ji (2), Park Kun-woo (1) JPN: Kensuke Kondo (1) Attendance: 41,629 Umpires: HP: Laz Díaz, 1B: Stu Scheurwater, 2B: Delfin Colon, 3B: Cuti Suárez Boxscore |||||||||||||

### China vs Australia

March 11, 2023 12:00 PM JST at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan :
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| China | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | X | 2 | 5 | 1 |
| Australia | 3 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | X | X | 12 | 12 | 1 |
| WP: Kyle Glogoski (1–0) LP: Xin Qi (0–1) Home runs: CHN: None AUS: Robbie Glendinning (2) Attendance: 15,708 Umpires: HP – Adam Hamari, 1B – Chan-Jung Chang, 2B – Pat Hoberg, 3B – Delfin Colon Notes: Completed early due to 10–run mercy rule after 7 innings. No outs when last run scored. Boxscore |||||||||||||

### Czech Republic vs Japan

March 11, 2023 19:00 PM JST at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan :
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Czech Republic | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| Japan | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | X | 10 | 11 | 1 |
| WP: Rōki Sasaki (1–0) LP: Ondřej Satoria (0–1) Sv: Hiroya Miyagi (1) Home runs: CZE: None JPN: Shugo Maki (2) Attendance: 41,637 Umpires: HP: Ben May, 1B: Ramon De Jesus, 2B: Cuti Suárez, 3B: Fabrizio Fabrizi Boxscore |||||||||||||

### Czech Republic vs South Korea

March 12, 2023 12:00 PM JST at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan :
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Czech Republic | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 1 |
| South Korea | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | x | 7 | 11 | 0 |
| WP: Se Woong Park (1–0) LP: Lukas Ercoli (0–1) Sv: Yongchan Lee (1) Home runs: CZE: None KOR: Ha-seong Kim 2 (2) Attendance: 16,129 Umpires: HP – Delfin Colon, 1B – Laz Diaz, 2B – Fabrizio Fabrizzi, 3B – Ben May Boxscore |||||||||||||

### Japan vs Australia

March 12, 2023 19:00 PM JST at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan :
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Japan | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 10 | 0 |
| Australia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| WP: Yoshinobu Yamamoto (1–0) LP: Will Sherriff (0–1) Home runs: JPN: Shohei Ohtani (1) AUS: Alex Hall (1) Attendance: 41,664 Umpires: HP – Pat Hoberg, 1B – Cuti Suárez, 2B – Adam Hamari, 3B – Chan-Jung Chang Boxscore |||||||||||||

### Australia vs Czech Republic

March 13, 2023 12:00 PM JST at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan :
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Australia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 0 |
| Czech Republic | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 0 |
| WP: Daniel McGrath (1–0) LP: Marek Minařík (1–1) Home runs: AUS: Alex Hall (2) CZE: None Attendance: 16,641 Umpires: HP – Ramon De Jesus, 1B – Delfin Colon, 2B: Laz Díaz, 3B – Fabrizio Fabrizi Boxscore |||||||||||||

### South Korea vs China

This was China's worst defeat in the World Baseball Classic, with South Korea having scored 22 runs, the highest number of runs in any of the World Baseball Classic competition. China were also the first team to lose all four games.
March 13, 2023 19:00 PM JST at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan :
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| South Korea | 2 | 2 | 8 | 6 | 4 | x | x | x | x | 22 | 20 | 0 |
| China | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | x | x | x | x | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| WP: Hyeong Jun So (1–0) LP: Alan Carter (0–1) Home runs: KOR: Park Kun-woo (2), Ha-seong Kim (3) CHN: None Attendance: 14,442 Umpires: HP – Stu Scheurwater, 1B – Adam Hamari, 2B – Chan-Jung Chang, 3B – Cuti Suarez Boxscore |||||||||||||

## Statistics

Source:

### Leading hitters
#### Power

| SLG | Team | 1B | 2B | 3B | HR | AB |
| .542 | South Korea | 31 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 131 |
| .515 | Japan | 27 | 11 | 1 | 4 | 132 |
| .480 | Australia | 22 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 127 |
| .293 | Czech Republic | 21 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 133 |
| .236 | China | 13 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 106 |

#### Efficiency

| OBP | Team | H | BB | HBP | AB | SF |
| .486 | Japan | 43 | 41 | 4 | 132 | 4 |
| .425 | South Korea | 44 | 18 | 3 | 131 | 1 |
| .376 | Australia | 35 | 17 | 4 | 127 | 1 |
| .287 | Czech Republic | 28 | 11 | 4 | 133 | 2 |
| .258 | China | 18 | 12 | 1 | 106 | 1 |

### Leading pitchers

| WHIP | Team | BB | H | IP | K |
| 0.61 | Japan | 4 | 18 | 36 | 54 |
| 1.42 | South Korea | 11 | 33 | 31 | 41 |
| 1.44 | Australia | 19 | 30 | 34 | 34 |
| 1.74 | Czech Republic | 23 | 36 | 34 | 22 |
| 3.32 | China | 42 | 51 | 28 | 21 |