WBC fans unimpressed by Team Japan's trashing of China PR in World Baseball Classic debut

Team Japan treated fans to one of the first real blowouts of the 2023 World Baseball Classic. The two-time tournament champs faced off against China at the Tokyo Dome for their first match of the day.

Japan started their tournament in Pool B alongside Australia, Czechia, South Korea, and China. With the top two teams making it out of the round-robin stage, all teams are eager to pick up some early wins.

Earlier on Thursday, Australia upset South Korea in the first game of the pool by a score of 8-7. South Korea has been touted as the only team in the pool with enough skill to pose a challenge to Japan.

"Ohtani came through in his first outing for Team Japan # World Baseball Classic." - @ MLB

Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani took the mound for his country, hurling four innings of no-hit ball, striking out five and only allowing one hit. Ohtani also blew the game open with a 2-run double in the 4th inning. He had another single and a pair of walks as Team Japan walloped China by a score of 8-1.

Apart from Los Angeles Dodgers prospect Alan Carter, nearly all of the Chinese team's players come from the China National Baseball League (CNBL). They are regarded as one of the weakest teams in the World Baseball Classic.

Team China struggled with control throughout the game. Although they were able to limit the star-studded Japanese to nine hits, the Asian nation used no fewer than six pitchers and walked 16 Japanese batters. Chinese starter Xiang Wang threw 41 pitches in the first 1.2 innings, with only 13 of them registering as strikes.

World Baseball Classic fans received the results they were looking for. Although Ohtani and other Japanese players like St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Lars Nootbar had solid performances, fans pointed to China PR as not exactly the "team to beat" in this tournament.

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Pool B of the 2023 World Baseball Classic - Japan or Korea?

Unlike China, South Korea is a team that is loaded with pro talent from North America, Japan, and South Korea's own KBO League. Although South Korea dropped their first match against Australia, they will still represent Japan's biggest challenge in the first round of the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

It remains to be seen if fans will be as unimpressed if Japan takes them on at the Tokyo Dome on March 10th.