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International Baseball to Watch Before Regular Season Action

 Yuri Karasawa  |    Jan 29th, 2025 3:00pm EST

While baseball fans around the world count down the days until Opening Day, there’s no shortage of international baseball action to fill the void. The upcoming World Baseball Classic Qualifiers will take center stage, but plenty of other exciting events are still on the horizon. Here are six series happening in the coming weeks.

Caribbean Series (January 31 – February 7)

The 67th edition of the Caribbean Series will feature 14 games over eight days at El Nido de los Aguilas in Mexicali, Mexico. Teams from the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, and Japan will compete for the championship. Last year, Venezuela’s representative, Tiburones de la Guaira, claimed the title after defeating the Dominican Republic’s Tigres del Licey in the final.

This year, Japan makes its debut in the tournament in the form of Japan Breeze, a team composed mainly of Japanese independent leaguers (including 43-year-old Munenori Kawasaki!) and players in overseas leagues. Led by former Venezuelan NPB player and manager Alex Ramirez, the squad will provide a unique opportunity for lesser-known Japanese players to test themselves against strong Latin competition.

The tournament will use a single round-robin format in the group stage, with all teams guaranteed at least four games. The team with the worst record will be eliminated, while the remaining four advance to the knockout stage. The two semifinal losers will meet in a third-place decider, and the two winners will face off to determine the champion.

Formosa Series (February 12-13)

Premier12 champions Chinese Taipei will play two exhibition games against the KBO’s Lotte Giants at Taipei Dome from February 12 to 13 in preparation for the upcoming World Baseball Classic Qualifiers. Chinese Taipei must requalify for the WBC after finishing last in Group A in the previous tournament, following a heartbreaking tiebreaker among all teams with 2-2 records. The team’s 35-man preliminary roster for these games will also serve as its roster for the qualifiers later in February.

Last year’s Formosa Series was held in November against the Czech Republic as Chinese Taipei prepared for its Premier12 run. The Taiwanese side drew the first game 2-2 before dominating the second game with a 10-3 victory. A good showing against Lotte, who finished seventh in the KBO last season, could boost the team’s confidence heading into their important matchups against Spain, South Africa, and Nicaragua.

UAE Series (February 14-16)

 

Baseball United, the first professional baseball organization based in the Middle East and South Asia, has announced the UAE Series, its first event of 2025. The series will take place from February 14 to 16 at Baseball United Ballpark in Dubai and will feature the league’s UAE-based franchises, the Arabia Wolves (Dubai) and the Mid East Falcons (Abu Dhabi).

The historic series will be the first time professional baseball clubs compete in the Middle East. The rosters include former MLB stars like Robinson Cano, Didi Gregorius, Pablo Sandoval, and Alejandro De Aza. Five regional prospects will also make their professional debuts on each team.

Baseball United was co-founded in 2022 by Kash Shaikh, John Miedreich, and MLB Hall of Famers Barry Larkin and Mariano Rivera, with an ownership group that includes former and current stars like Adrian Beltre, Felix Hernandez, and Ronald Acuna Jr. The Baseball United-run events so far, including the Dubai All-Star Showcase and the Arab Classic, have already set the stage for its ambitious growth in the region, but the UAE Series will mark a significant milestone as its professional franchises will take the field for the first time.

International Baseball Showdown – Team Australia vs. Hanwha Eagles (February 14-16)

Team Australia will host the Hanwha Eagles in a three-game series at Melbourne Ballpark from February 14 to 16. The Eagles, who finished eighth in the KBO last year, will train at the ballpark from January 25 until the series begins. The event marks the Eagles’ return to Australia after their 2024 visit, during which they swept the inaugural series (2-1, 5-3) and drew a record crowd of over 4,000 fans.

Korea and Australia have enjoyed a strong baseball partnership over the years, highlighted by Geelong-Korea, a team of KBO prospects that competed in the Australian Baseball League for three seasons. Hanwha Eagles General Manager Hyuk Son praised Melbourne’s facilities, good weather, and minimal time difference with South Korea, expressing gratitude to the Melbourne Aces and Victorian Government for their support.

Both sides will look to use the series to propel them to success in 2025. Hanwha will prepare for the upcoming KBO season, and the Australians will gain valuable experience for their ever-growing program.

Kaohsiung City Exhibition – TSG Hawks vs. Oisix Niigata Albirex (February 27-28)

 

The TSG Hawks, who recently joined the CPBL as an expansion team in 2024, will host Oisix Niigata Albirex, one of NPB’s newest expansions, for a two-game exhibition series at Chengcing Lake Baseball Stadium in Kaohsiung City on February 27–28.

Oisix previously competed in Japan’s independent Baseball Challenge League before joining the NPB-affiliated Eastern League in 2024 as an unaffiliated farm team. In their debut season, Oisix finished with a 41-79-6 record, performing significantly better than fellow expansion team Kufu Hayate Ventures (28-84-8). Meanwhile, TSG finished last in the CPBL standings in 2024 with a 49-70 record.

The series will also highlight notable player matchups, including former NPB pitcher Kazumasa Yoshida, who played for Oisix last season before joining TSG in August, and veteran Daikan Yoh, one of Taiwan’s most accomplished NPB players, now playing for the Albirex.

Samurai Japan Series (March 5-6)

Samurai Japan’s unparalleled success on the international stage in recent years can partially be attributed to its commitment to exhibition games, ensuring the spirit of international baseball stays alive even in non-tournament years. This year, Japan’s annual preseason series will feature the Kingdom of the Netherlands as their opponent.

In 2024, Japan faced the All-Europe All-Stars—a team primarily made up of players from Spain, the Czech Republic, Italy, and the Netherlands—and comfortably swept the two-game series, which included a combined perfect game. Japan will be back in Osaka at the Kyocera Dome on March 5-6 as it looks to rebound from a disappointing loss in the Premier12 Finals to Chinese Taipei, which snapped its 27-game winning streak in major international competitions.

The defeat placed major scrutiny on manager Hirokazu Ibata, who succeeded Hideki Kuriyama after the 2023 World Baseball Classic. Japan revamped its coaching staff in response, adding recently retired fan favorites Nobuhiro Matsuda and Atsushi Nomi. Japan’s roster for the series is set to be announced in mid-February and is expected to feature a mix of established NPB stars and younger prospects aiming to make an impression.

The Netherlands, meanwhile, will aim to upset the world’s No. 1 team after finishing ninth in the Premier12. The Dutch senior national team last played in Japan during the second round of the 2017 World Baseball Classic. Their previous visit was for an exhibition series in November 2016, best remembered for Shohei Ohtani’s towering double that struck the roof of Tokyo Dome. The Orange squad was competitive in both games but fell short, losing 9-8 and 12-10, respectively.

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Yuri Karasawa
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Category: World Baseball Network

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