Yankees Manager Joe Girardi Has Big Plans to Fix the WBC

Many of the New York Yankees playing in this year’s World Baseball Classic have excelled for their home countries. But manager Joe Girardi still wants to see the tournament calendar adjusted.

During pool play of this year’s WBC, 621,851 fans were in attendance, marking a 34 percent increase from the previous high in 2013. Yet for all the increased attention the exhibition tournament has received, many MLB managers can’t wait for it to end. Yankees skipper Joe Girardi understands that the WBC is important to players, but feels its timing should be adjusted to benefit the clubs that have yet to begin their new seasons.

Girardi told NJ Advance Media:

“You hope that guys this early on don’t have to throw two days in a row, but if you get in an extra-inning game … it becomes tough, Girardi said before the Yankees game against the Tampa Bay Rays. “There’s a lot of pressure on those managers, not only to win, but it’s probably more important how they handle the pitching staff.”

Girardi proposed that future iterations of the tournament begin a week later than it did this year. After completion of the first two rounds, the semifinals and championship game would be held off until the MLB All-Star break in July. This would allow for an extended week of festivities to be dedicated to the WBC.

Girardi suggested playing three fewer games during the season in which the WBC takes place, or starting the season three days earlier, to make up for that extended off week would suffice.

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No longer would teams need to worry about players not being physically prepared to play (as they are now), having just come off a long winter. Pitch counts for starters could be extended from the 65 pitches they stand at now to well over 75.

One of my favorite parts of his plan would be hosting the semifinals and finals in a city that has two ballparks relatively close to one another (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago). If the location happened to be within driving distance to the host of the annual Midsummer Classic, even better.

Maybe teams think it’s more risky (playing in July), but more Tommy Johns happen in the month of April than any month.”

There has been plenty of talk this spring that this could indeed be the last helping of the WBC — especially with the Olympics bringing back baseball in 2020. If the IOC and MLB were to come to some sort of agreement permitting professionals to partake in the games, much like the NHL has done since 1998, then the WBC is in real trouble. I mean, who wouldn’t want to compete for an Olympic medal?

Of course, some sort of expanded roster situation or break in the 162-game season would need to occur (which is hard to imagine with all the money being thrown around), but the MLBPA has a lot of power these days, and I don’t imagine national pride going away anytime soon.

As for the Yankees’ players partaking in the WBC, it’s been mostly roses to this point.

Dellin Betances has a 0.00 ERA in two innings for the Dominican Republic– allowing two hits, three walks, zero runs, and two strikeouts.

In three innings pitched for Team USA, Tyler Clippard is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA, striking out five, walking one, and hasn’t allowed a hit or a run.

Left-hander Tommy Layne has a 0.00 ERA — allowing four hits while walking three and striking out four in 3.1 innings pitched for Team Italy.

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Didi Gregorius has been a hitting machine at DH for the Netherlands, batting .348 in five games with eight hits, four doubles, one home run and eight RBI.