Representing a country in their respective sport is the highest honor an athlete can achieve. When I grew up wanting to be a professional athlete, I never thought I would be given such an opportunity.
It’s such a rare occasion that it’s hard to think of many reasons why a player would choose not to participate. You will be invited to join the stacked lineup.
Four Dodgers have pledged to join the team, including Mookie Betts, Will Smith and Trea Turner of the United States and Freddie Freeman of Canada. But for the Dodgers’ president of baseball operations, Andrew Friedman, he understands his WBC vision but is concerned about the durability of pitchers who are already playing a tough season (Bill Plunkett, Quoted by The OC Register).
“It’s concerning that a guy who’s made it through the full season until October is up against that intensity early on. That being said, I don’t really know many answers to this. I love the WBC and what they do to promote the game around the world, and I see how many people come in from different pockets of the world.”
Friedman is aware of the impact the WBC has on the world of baseball, but ultimately his main goal in leaving an MLB team is to become the best version of himself for the team.
“So in terms of growing our game, I believe in that — when I’m wearing my industry hat. When I’m wearing my Dodgers hat, I care about pitchers.” ”
The list of Dodgers players joining the WBC certainly isn’t over, but Friedman’s thoughts are what more players should keep in mind if they choose to attend or decline the invitation out of necessity. It may become
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Dodgers roster: Clayton Kershaw activated from injured list