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Like the Olympics, every four years is a super-baseball fan's favorite time of the year. The World Baseball Classic. Earlier this week, the rosters for the countries involved were announced, and the Chicago Cubs have players representing 10 of the 20 teams involved. So who are the players on the 10 teams and what are Cubs fans hoping to see from them?
1. Liam Spence, Australia
Liam Spence, a shortstop currently assigned to the Arizona Complex League (ACL), is a 24-year-old right-handed infielder who was selected in the 5th round in the 2021 MLB draft by the Cubs. Born out of Australia, in 2022 Spence hit .192 in 62 games. As his bat is nowhere near ready for the majors, his defense is stellar, with only 6 errors at shortstop in his minor league career.
2. Owen Caissie, Curtis Taylor, Jared Young, Canada
In 2022, across three minor league levels with the Washington Nationals, Taylor had a 3.91 ERA with a 1.11 WHIP in 34 games. Depending on his performance for Team Canada, he may be up in the Chicago Cubs bullpen sooner than later. The 27-year-old Young was drafted in the 15th round in 2017 and has definitely struggled since joining the Triple-A team, hitting .230 in 109 games. Young is someone who could be up again in the future as a backup, but seeing another Cubbie in the World Baseball Classic is still something to look forward to.