It’s pretty clear that, with no baseball in sight (at least until May or June, at the earliest) people are looking forward not only to the start of the season, but also, to other exciting things. That’s precisely the case of New York Mets‘ starting pitcher Marcus Stroman.
“Stro” is looking ahead to the 2021 World Baseball Classic (WBC) which is scheduled to start a year from now. The coronavirus pandemic is wreaking havoc in this year’s sports calendar, but there is no reason to think, as of now, that next year’s tournaments won’t be played.
Via his official Twitter account, Stroman started the discussion on Thursday about who would play for the United States in the 2021 WBC. He called the tweeting exchange the “recruiting season.”
Stroman won the MVP award in 2017, when Team USA won its first and only WBC trophy. The ever-competitive hurler, who is playing for the Mets since last season’s trade deadline, is already excited about the next edition of the tournament. Apparently, other American All-Stars are joining the squad next year.
The Mets’ Pete Alonso wants in!
One of the stars that the New York Mets’ pitcher “recruited” (unofficially, of course) is his current teammate, slugger Pete Alonso.
“If @USABaseball named me to the national team, I might cry,†Alonso wrote on Twitter. “I tried out for the 18u team a while back and didn’t make it. It would be an honor to put the red, white, and blue on and rep the Stars and Stripes.â€
Other 2017 members expressed their desire to repeat. Among them are 2018 NL MVP Christian Yelich and Padres first baseman Eric Hosmer. Other stars said they wanted in, such as flamboyant Reds pitcher Trevor Bauer and Blake Snell.
Cody Bellinger and Walker Buehler of the Dodgers, Nolan Arenado and Trevor Story of the Rockies, Mike Clevinger of the Indians, Whit Merrifield of the Royals and Joey Gallo of the Rangers were interested, as well.
Stroman tweeted: “I thought the @USABaseball squad was scary in 2017…2021 about to be unreal. Sheesh!†The Mets’ star’ recruiting season was a success!