The World Baseball Classic has garnered a lot of interest from fans and a number of players, but some pitchers have declined to take part in the event. There is one reason for that, and Max Scherzer summed up how one big change could fix a lot of those issues.
The New York Mets star told reporters Monday that the WBC should be held during the Major League Baseball season, and it would help attract more pitchers. Scherzer added that he would be taking too many risks with his health by pitching in such a high-stress environment during spring training.
“For me personally, I looked at it. I’m not ready to step into a quasi-playoff game right now physically. I feel like if I do that, I’m rolling the dice with my arm,” Scherzer said. “It’s hard enough to try to make 33 starts, try to throw 200 innings as it is already, with a normal ramp-up in spring. If I go out there and try to do too much early in spring, it really could effect me throughout the season."
“If the WBC was during the season, I think you would get more pitcher participation, and more importantly I think it would be more exciting for the fans because you would actually have starters built up," he continued. "You wouldn’t have guys on pitch counts. You’d actually have real guys going at it. It’d be a real game.”
A lot of Scherzer’s fellow starters likely agree here, and the stance does make sense. However, it would probably be tough to get MLB to agree to essentially pause the season to accommodate such an arrangement, even if they are a partner in the tournament.
Even pitchers that had been willing to participate were unable to do so due to issues outside of their control. This will plague the WBC as long as it is held during spring, but do not expect that to change anytime soon.
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