Juan Soto, the leading batter of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) Dominican Republic national team, once again strongly expressed his will to participate in the tournament.
“The calf is 100 per cent healthy and plans to leave here for the WBC later this week are still in place,” Soto told US sports radio host Marino Pippen on the 8th (Korean time)안전놀이터
Soto, who complained of pain in his left calf ahead of an exhibition game against the Los Angeles Dodgers on the 28th of last month, played consecutively against the Texas Rangers on the 2nd and against the Seattle Mariners on the 3rd, hitting two hits and one RBI, respectively, and continued a high-sensitivity hit, but from the 3rd took a break again
It was observed that the red light was turned on to participate in the WBC because of his worsening pain, but at present it seems that the possibility of participation is very high.
Regarding Soto’s condition the previous day, San Diego manager Bob Melvin said, “We expect Soto to remain at our camp and continue his batting training while receiving treatment.” do,” he said.
Soto, who has recently been taking rest and batting training, is expected to fly to Florida on the 10th or 11th, where the Dominican Republic camp is set up, strongly confirming his will to participate in the WBC.
The Dominican Republic national team, made up of all-star major league players such as Soto’s teammates Manny Machado and Nelson Cruz, as well as Julio Rodriguez, Sandy Alcantara, Teosca Hernandez, Wander Franco, and Jeremy Pena, arrived in Fort Myers, Florida, the day before and started playing for Lee. I started training at the County Sports Complex.
The Dominican Republic, which belongs to Group D, will play its first game against Venezuela at 9:00 am on the 12th at Londippo Park in Miami. Considering Soto’s current physical condition, it seems that he will be able to play from this match.
Following Japan’s Shohei Ohtani and America’s Mike Trout, the WBC atmosphere is expected to heat up as Soto’s joining the camp becomes visible this weekend.