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On November 9, the Premier12 baseball tournament began, marking one of baseball's biggest offseason events. Featuring the 12 best-ranked nations in the sport, the playoff is second only to the World Baseball Classic when it comes to international baseball showings.
On November 18, the Group Stage of the tournament culminated with Taiwan's 2-0 win over Cuba. The four remaining teams - Venezuela, Taiwan, Japan and the USA - will now proceed to the Super Round in Tokyo. Keep reading to explore the games that will take place on November 20.
Premier12 Key Matchups - November 21
Taiwan vs Venezuela
Taiwan and Venezuela will face off for the first game of the Super Round, set to take place at 12:00 pm on November 21. Having won all of their games save for the fixture against the Japanese, the Taiwanese are in good stead.
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On the other hand, Venezuela has also been playing well. Led by Houston Astros bench coach Omar Lopez, the Venezuelans are coming off a group stage that saw them go 4-1, including an 11-0 win over the Netherlands in their final game.
Starting Pitchers
TAI: Tzu-Peng Huang (黃子鵬)
A pitcher for Rakuten of the CPBL, pitcher Tzu-Peng Huang was the player of the game in Taiwan's 2-1 win over the Dominican Republic on November 14. Huang, 300, went 5-7 with a 3.51 ERA, and 56 strikeouts in 100 innings during the 2024 season.
"After a solid performance from the mound Tzu-Peng Huang is the Player of the Game against Dominican Republics. #Premier12" - Premier12 presented by RAXUS
VEN: Nivaldo Rodriguez
Venezuelan starter Nivaldo Rodriguez brings 16.0 innings of MLB experience to his Premier12 start. A member of the Astros between 2020 and 2021, Rodriguez is pitching for the Navegantes del Magallanes of the Venezuelan Winter League.
Odds
USA vs Japan
In a rematch of the 2023 World Baseball Classic final that saw Shohei Ohtani strike out Mike Trout, the two baseball powerhouses will be back at it again.
On account of them outscoring their opponents 36-16 during the group stage, Team Japan is thus far undefeated in the tournament. Tied with the USA in runs for, the pitching staff's runs against figures is cause for concern.
Managed by former Los Angeles Angels skipper Mike Scioscia, the only MLB talent employed by Team USA comes in the form of free agents such as Anthony Gose, Touki Toussant and Casey Lawrence. Tied with Japan for the most runs in the Premier12 with 36, the USA is also tied with Venezuela for having surrendered the fewest runs.
Starting Pitchers
USA: Rich Hill
At one time, Rich Hill was the oldest active player in MLB but has not thrown an MLB pitch since he took the mound for the Boston Red Sox on September 4. Now 44 years old, Hill has over 1,400 innings of experience in MLB and played an important role in Team USA's win over Mexico in the final group stage game.
"At 44, Rich Hill is still that dude" - WBSC
JPN: Hiroto Takahashi (髙橋宏斗)
23-year-old Chunichi Dragons pitcher Hirohito Takahashi will take the ball for the Japanese on Thursday. In 2023, Takahashi stunned fans with an incredible season in NPB. In addition to going 12-4 on the season, the right-hander also amassed a 1.69 ERA in 21 games.
Odds
