Team USA faces the Dominican Republic at the 2013 World Baseball Classic as both squads meet in a Pool 2 matchup that will decide who automatically advances to the semifinals in San Francisco. With R.A. Dickey on the mound, can the Americans rely on their knuckleballer to get the a win or will the Dominicans continue rolling over their opponents? Because both teams are red hot, the only way to settle this is by looking at different hypothetical situations.
Dickey struggled badly against Mexico and the Dominicans are stiffer competition. They have taken advantage of a lot of mistakes, just look at Robinson Cano's numbers who is the equivalent of David Wright for the Americans. Both countries have scored 24 runs in their first four games. The U.S. is 3-1 while the Dominicans are a perfect 4-0.
Who do I think will win this game? The Dominicans. Their secret weapon is Samuel Deduno since the Americans don't know him. There are plenty of guys in the Dominican team, like catcher Carlos Santana who recognizes some of these guys like Eric Hosmer, Ben Zobrist and Adam Jones. Teams usually struggle when seeing pitchers for the first time.
(Check out MLB forum: Does D.R. have too much swag for Americans?)
Now, Dickey was a force in 2012. If his knuckleball isn't dropping and moving, he will have trouble keeping the Dominicans off the scoreboard. These guys are loose and they're having fun, something we hadn't seen in the previous World Baseball Classics.
Once both starters exit the game, the Dominicans also possess the bullpen advantage. Their guys have been lights out late in the games. However, though Rodney has gotten the job done and continues shooting down starts after recording saves, his outings have been shaky. Therefore, USA's Craig Kimbrel gets the edge as the closer. If the Dominicans are down in the Top of the 9th, then they better shorten their swings to catch up to Kimbrel's 95-plus MPH fastball.
On offense, the Dominicans and Americans are ranked No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, in batting average. The Dominicans have hit more home runs, which is something American pitching has to watch out for.
All in all, both teams have momentum. The Dominicans have the edge because they have shown less weaknesses in their game so far at the World Baseball Classic. This isn't to diss the American team, but Dickey's poor start is still too fresh to simply overlook.
