Israel World Baseball Classic 2023 Roster: All-star Joc Pederson stands out on talented team

With the WBC '23 around the corner, Israel's World Baseball Classic roster is stacked in its own right and will be led by San Francisco Giants All-Star Joc Pederson. This will be Israel's second appearance in the WBC. The prior one came in 2017, when they managed to build up a small hot streak before getting doused by the big guns.

Twenty teams in total have been split into four groups, each of which consists of five different countries. Team Israel will have a tough time in their round robin games as they face the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico and Venezuela. All these Central and South American nations have prior experience in the competition and have many ballplayers playing in the major leagues.

In 2016, Team Israel became a member of the World Baseball Classic for the first time, traveling to South Korea with little anticipation. After easily defeating the hosts, Korea, Chinese Taipei and the Netherlands, an underdog team unexpectedly won the 2017 Classic's initial rounds.

"In the 2017 WBC, Lavarnway won Pool A MVP for Team Israel as he hit .444 over 18 ABs with 6 RBI," Shawn Spradling tweeted.

In the first round of the second round in Tokyo, Israel defeated Cuba. However, the team ran out of fairy dust and dropped the next two games, ending its run.

Team Israel World Baseball Classic 2023 roster

Team Israel's roster is completely dominated by American Jews, and the highlight name is that of Joc Pederson, who plays for the San Francisco Giants. Nine players, including the two-time All-Star, played at least some part of the 2022 season in the major leagues.

In addition to Team Israel veterans Ryan Lavarnway and Ty Kelly, who were integral parts of the 2017 squad, five other players have experience in the major leagues. There are also a number of fascinating top prospects taking part.

"WBC highlight #1: Joc Pederson, team Israel"

"In 2022, he hit 23 HRs for the SF Giants and was an all-star. He had a career high OPS+ of 144"

"Pederson previously represented Team Israel in 2012" - 10to20WAR

Atlanta Braves pitcher Max Fried, who placed second in the NL Cy Young voting last season, and Houston Astros third baseman Alex Bregman, both of whom have been selected to two All-Star games, were conspicuously absent from the group.

"In Israel's first WBC game, the total hits and runs added up to 18. In Israel's second game, the total hits and runs added up to 54. Hmmm," Zach Kram tweeted.

Israel's opponents in the group stage, which starts March 12 in Miami, will be the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Nicaragua. In their stead, a few up-and-comers who haven't quite made it on The Show will have their first opportunity to compete against elite players from those nations.