Graphic courtesy of WBSC.
Staff Reports
World Baseball Network
The World Baseball Softball Confederation issued the updated World Baseball Rankings on October 5.
The new rankings reflect recent results from the WBSC’s U-18 Baseball World Cup 2023 in Taiwan and the Baseball European Championship. The rankings points earned from the 2019 editions of those events have expired.
Japan remains atop the World Baseball Rankings, widening the gap with the second-ranked United States with a championship at the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup last month in Taiwan.
Puerto Rico rose two spots to No. 11, passing Panama and Italy, to enter the top 12. The top 12 countries in the World Baseball Rankings at the end of 2023 will qualify for the 2024 Premier 12 tournament, which will be held from Nov. 10-24, 2024 in North America, Japan, and Taiwan.
The Dominican Republic and Australia swapped spots, ranking ninth and 10th respectively. Italy fell to No. 13, down one spot, and Panama dropped one spot to No. 12.
The biggest climbers in the World Baseball Rankings were Switzerland, which rose 16 spots to No. 36 in the world; Greece, which rose seven spots to No. 34; Sweden, which climbed five places to No. 28; Croatia, up four spots to No. 26; and Ukraine, which jumped three spots to No. 35.
No team in the top 25 in the World Baseball Rankings rose or fell more than two places.