MLB Tickets - Stats from the World Baseball Classic - Part I

As springtime comes to a close, the time for taking stock of the action in the preseason has arrived. But this is a special year for Major League Baseball season previews, because not only are there spring training stats and performances to mull over, but the World Baseball Classic has provided an interesting new stage for evaluating talent.

Spring training has it's own charms and tradition, but sometimes getting the best analysis out of the Grapefruit and Cactus leagues is a difficult task. The games are exhibitions, so sometimes the players aren't giving it their all out on the field. The main points include getting warmed-up, adjusting roster positions and avoiding injury. Major League stars and veterans who are secure in their positions can afford to take the crispness out of their play. Many times you'll see a starting pitcher come out strong for a few innings, then take a seat to give others a chance to prove their worth. It's much harder to predict where a player is at in his preparedness when he's not given the chance to show us everything he's got.

Which is why the World Baseball Classic is a great tool for these types of previews. The WBC is a tournament of national teams from around the world. The playoff atmosphere, where many games are "win or go home," leads to a heightened level of preseason competition, thus giving stats hounds much better information from which to base their predictions. We're going to try to go over some of the stats that have come in from the World Baseball Classic, as of March 22, 2009.

TEAM USA
You won't find a team with more MLB players than Team USA, so we're starting off with the boys from the red, white and blue. Overall the team has performed well, although they've been given to bad errors and the roster has been plagued with injuries. We'll start off with the fielders who have had more than a dozen or so at-bats. You'll get to see all of these guys when you go to StubHub to purchase MLB tickets to games in 2009.

Jimmy Rollins - coming off a World Series victory, Jimmy has the chance to be a double world champion in this event, so it's not a surprise that he's been hitting at a fine pace. In 20 at-bats Jimmy Rollins has six hits, including a double, a triple and a home run. He's averaging .300 and slugging .600. He also has a team-leading 3 stolen bases.

Adam Dunn - Dunn's arrival in Washington D.C. This year should start out auspiciously, as he's been swinging the bat with confidence in the World Baseball Classic. His performance as a first baseman on defense has left something to be desired, however. Dunn has 19 at-bats so far, which has led to the home runs and seven total hits. He's slugging .895 and is working on a batting average of .368. He has seven strikeouts, in typical Adam Dunn fashion. Considering the kind of pitching he's been facing so far, this is a good start to 2009.

Other Fielders of Note - David Wright has been a clutch performer, and leads the team in hits. Wright has averaged .296 in 27 at-bats. Kevin Youkilis is still swinging a heavy bat, as he's added 3 home runs to USA's total.

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