The 2023 World Baseball Classic Pool A was the first of four pools of the

2023 World Baseball Classic The 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball tournament and the fifth iteration of the World Baseball Classic. It began on March 8, 2023, and ran until March 21. It was originally scheduled to take place in ...

that took place from March 8–12 at Taichung Stadium in

Taichung Taichung (, Wade–Giles: '), officially Taichung City, is a special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality in central Taiwan. Taichung is Taiwan's second-largest city, with more than 2.85 million residents, making it the largest city in Ce ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. The top two teams automatically qualified for the top eight

knockout stage A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

, beginning with the quarterfinals in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

and the remaining of the bracket in Miami. The teams in this pool consisted of hosts

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One China principle stipulated by the ...

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, and

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

. After all games were completed, the five teams tied at 2–2. This resulted in the standings being determined by the fewest runs allowed per defensive out recorded. Cuba won the pool and advanced to the quarterfinals, along with Italy as runners-up, and Chinese Taipei fell to last place and was relegated to the qualifiers for the

2026 World Baseball Classic The 2026 World Baseball Classic is an upcoming international professional baseball tournament, planned to be the sixth iteration of the World Baseball Classic (WBC). The pool play rounds will be played in Miami, Florida; Houston, Texas; San Juan ...

, despite scoring the most in the pool.

Yu Chang Yu-Cheng Chang (; born August 18, 1995) is a Taiwanese professional baseball infielder for the Fubon Guardians of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL). He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Guardia ...

of Chinese Taipei was named the

most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...

of Pool A.

Teams

Standings

Tiebreaker

As all five teams tied at 2–2, WBC's tiebreakers went into effect. The first tiebreaker, head-to-head record, was unnessary because all five teams were tied. The final standings were determined by the fewest runs allowed per defensive out recorded. Based on the calculation, Cuba won the pool, while Italy advanced as the runner-up.

Summary

Matches

Cuba vs Netherlands

Panama vs Chinese Taipei

Panama vs Netherlands

Italy vs Cuba

Cuba vs Panama

Italy vs Chinese Taipei

Panama vs Italy

Netherlands vs Chinese Taipei

Chinese Taipei vs Cuba

Netherlands vs Italy

Statistics

Source:

Leading hitters

Power

Efficiency

Leading pitchers

References

{{2023 World Baseball Classic

Pool A Pool may refer to: Bodies of water * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a roc ...

World Baseball Classic Pool A International baseball competitions hosted by Taiwan World Baseball Classic Pool A Sport in Taichung