Â
We are now a few days removed from the thrilling conclusion to the World Baseball Classic.
Ultimately, Japan unseated the United States at the top, winning the entire tournament on Tuesday night as they held off Team USA.
The highlight of the tournament certainly had to be the final at-bat, where Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani squared off with the tournament on the line.
Ohtani won the battle by striking out his Los Angeles Angels teammate.
But it was Japan’s pitching that ultimately led the way during the WBC.
On Twitter, MLB Network took note of a few interesting statistics that show just how dominant Japan’s pitching was.
Team Japan’s pitching was absolutely DOMINANT in the #WorldBaseballClassic 🤯
80 K (most by any team in a single WBC)
0.87 WHIP (2nd lowest in a single WBC)
.194 opponent BA (6th lowest in a single WBC) pic.twitter.com/tmWpehQ4jb— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) March 22, 2023
Their pitching staff, led by Ohtani and Yu Darvish, struck out 80 batters.
That is ultimately the most by any team in a single World Baseball Classic.
They posted an 0.87 WHIP, which was the second lowest in a single World Baseball Classic.
Finally, they held opponents to a microscopic .194 batting average.
That is ultimately the sixth lowest in a single WBC.
Needless to say, Japan’s pitching was dominant, and was their greatest strength throughout the Classic.
That strength was on full display on Tuesday night as they held a very powerful Team USA lineup to just two runs mere days after their 14-run eruption against Cuba.
And in fitting fashion, it came down to the two best players in all of baseball to decide the final outcome of the tournament.
The pitching prevailed, as Ohtani struck out Trout to end the game and secure the WBC title for Japan, which is their third in tournament history.
NEXT:Â
Braves Insider Reveals Unfortunate Raisel Iglesias Update
