Since losing their first game of Pool E to Japan, the Netherlands have gone on quite a roll as they demolished Israel (12-2) and Cuba (14-1) in back-to-back games to finish second in the pool. Wladimir Balentien went ballistic, as he went a combined 6-of-8 with 6 runs (2 HR) and 8 RBI. The former Seattle Mariner is now hitting a terrific .591 in the tournament, with 3 homers and 10 RBI.
Current big-leaguers Andrelton Simmons, Jurickson Profar, and Didi Gregorius have also contributed some very good production throughout the tournament.
It should also be noted amid their offensive explosion that the Dutch are getting some very good pitching from their starters. Diegomar Markwell and Jair Jurrjens both went 6 innings and gave up a single run in their starts.
It’ll now be up to Rick van den Hurk to keep up that terrific pitching. The 31-year-old, though, has a 6.43 ERA in his first two starts in the WBC. He was hit for 5 runs in 3 innings in his last start against Japan.
Puerto Rico is still perfect in this edition of the WBC. They’re coming off a dominant 13-2 win over Venezuela to complete another successful sweep of Pool F. They had beaten two of their top rivals in the Dominican Republic (3-1) and the United States (6-5) in their first two pool games.
The Puerto Ricans have had a balanced attack all tournament long, although the likes of Carlos Correa, Francisco Lindor and veteran Yadier Molina have supplied the power with two home runs each.
Meanwhile, their pitching has also been very good despite the absence of a big-time ace. They held the Dominican Republic and Venezuela to three total runs by using five pitchers in both games, none of which lasted more than 3 innings.
Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Jorge Lopez will get the start against the Netherlands. The 24-year-old righty was solid in his first start of the tournament as he gave up one run on two hits in 4.1 innings and had 5 strikeouts against the Mexico.
Writer’s Prediction
Puerto Rico (-165) has the more reliable pitching, and they book a place in the final with a 6-3 win over the Netherlands.
