Moises Rojas Alou, manager of the Dominican team in the World Baseball Classic announced the roster for the Dominican Republic yesterday, Thursday 21 February. The DR goes against Venezuela at 7:30pm in the Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico on 7 March. We have a good team, the boys are very motivated and we are confident we can do a good job,” he said upon making the announcement. He criticized the decision by many Major League teams that did not give their players permission to play, as in the cases of Albert Pujols, Jose Bautista and Adrian Beltre, Johnny Cueto among others. “The managers are not interested in the Classic, they are interested in their teams. Changes need to be made. Image a (soccer) World Cup without Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo,” said Rojas Alou.
Adrian Beltre, Robinson Cano, Hanley Ramirez, Jose Reyes, Fernando Rodney and Melky Cabrera will be playing for the Dominican Republic in the classic.
The pitching staff is:
Pedro Figueroa, Wandy Rodriguez, Santiago Casilla, Octavio Dotel, Kelvin Herrera, Fernando Rodney, Joel Peralta, Pedro Strop, Esmil Rogers, Edinson Volquez and Alexi Ogando.
The key players are:
Edwin Encarnacion (1B), Robinson Cano (2B), Adrian Beltre and Hanley Ramirez (3B), Jose Reyes and Erick Aybar and Miguel Tejada (SS), Miguel Olivo and Carlos Santana (C), Nelson Cruz, Carlos Gomez and Melky Cabrera (OF).
The complete list of players is:
Pitchers: Wandy Rodriguez, Edinson Volquez, Samuel Deduno, Angel Castro, Fernando Rodney, Octavio Dotel, Santiago Casilla, Kelvin Herrera, Jose Valverde, Pedro Strop, Alfredo Simon, Juan Cedeno and Jose Veras.
Catchers: Carlos Santana and Francisco Pena.
Infielders: Edwin Encarnacion, Robinson Cano, Jose Reyes, Hanley Ramirez, Miguel Tejada, Erick Aybar and Leury Garcia.
Fielders: Nelson Cruz, Ricardo Nanita, Alejandro De Aza, Moises Sierra, Melky Mesa.
The DR was upset by the Netherlands in 2009, but wants another go at a championship.
http://web.worldbaseballclassic.com/wbc/2013/teams/index.jsp?team=dom&team_id=805