What you need to know about the Olympic baseball qualifying tournament
Baseball is returning to the Summer Olympics for the first time since Beijing hosted the Games in 2008. With two spots up for grabs, qualifying will resume Monday after the COVID-19 pandemic pushed proceedings back a year.
The Baseball Americas Qualifier will be hosted from May 31-June 5 between Port St. Lucie and West Palm Beach, Florida.
Format
Group A: United States, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua
Group B: Colombia, Cuba, Canada, Venezuela
The action will start at 1 p.m., ET on Monday with Puerto Rico facing the Dominican Republic in Clover Park at Port St. Lucie and Venezuela taking on Cuba at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches. The United States versus Nicaragua and Colombia versus Canada will follow later in the day.
The top two teams from each group will play in the super round, with the winner earning a trip to Tokyo and the second- and third-place squads getting another shot in the Baseball Final Qualifier in Mexico from June 16-20.
The Netherlands, Chinese Taipei, and Australia are already locked into the final qualifier. China had been slated to round out a field of six, but the country withdrew from the competition in May.
Here's the full schedule for the group round:
| Date | Match | Time (ET) |
|---|---|---|
| May 31 | Puerto Rico vs. Dominican Republic | 1:00 |
| May 31 | Venezuela vs. Cuba | 1:00 |
| May 31 | USA vs. Nicaragua | 7:00 |
| May 31 | Colombia vs. Canada | 7:00 |
| June 1 | Colombia vs. Venezuela | 1:00 |
| June 1 | Nicaragua vs. Puerto Rico | 1:00 |
| June 1 | Canada vs. Cuba | 7:00 |
| June 1 | Dominican Republic vs. USA | 7:00 |
| June 2 | Nicaragua vs. Dominican Republic | 1:00 |
| June 2 | Canada vs. Venezuela | 1:00 |
| June 2 | Puerto Rico vs. USA | 7:00 |
| June 2 | Cuba vs. Colombia | 7:00 |
Games will be broadcast in more than 70 countries including on ESPN+ in the United States and CBC in Canada, the WBSC announced.
Notable players
The United States, entering as the world's second-ranked team behind Japan, features the most recognizable roster. Below are former MLB players and current prospects that will partake for each team.
United States: Homer Bailey, Triston Casas, Jarren Duran, Logan Forsythe, Todd Frazier, Anthony Gose, Edwin Jackson, Jon Jay, Matt Kemp, Matthew Liberatore, David Robertson, Simeon Woods Richardson
Dominican Republic: Jose Bautista, Emilio Bonifacio, Melky Cabrera, Juan Francisco, Julio Rodriguez
Canada: John Axford, Scott Richmond
Colombia: Jeter Downs
Venezuela: Robinson Chirinos, Carlos Perez, Jose Rondon, Anibal Sanchez, Tomas Telis
Puerto Rico: Noel Cuevas, Ivan De Jesus, Rey Navarro
Cuba: Bryan Chi
Nicaragua: Melvin Novoa, Brandon Leyton, Ismael Munguia
Qualified teams
Host nation Japan had an automatic berth into the Olympics but finished first in the WBSC Premier12 event in November 2019, anyway. South Korea and Mexico also earned spots as the top finishers from Asia/Oceania and the Americas, respectively.
Israel also qualified for Tokyo after earning the top spot in the Africa/Europe event in September 2019.
The opening round of the Olympic tournament is scheduled for July 27.