The 2023 World Baseball Classic is here and will provide us with some meaningful baseball games before spring. Australia will take on Korea at the Tokyo Dome in Japan on Wednesday night. With that said, it’s a good time to check out our WBC odds series, which includes an Australia-Korea prediction and pick, laid out below.
Australia's roster is made up of a few lower-level MLB prospects, and then a bunch of Australian League players or Independent League players. Former big leaguer Dave Nilsson, who hit 100 career home runs, will be the manager of the squad. Former big leaguer Graeme Lloyd is among the coaching staff.
Korea's roster is full of stars from the country's top league, with a couple of big leaguers, current and former, mixed in. The most notable amongst the names is Tommy Edman, the St. Louis Cardinals' star infielder. Fans will also recognize ByungHo Park, who spent 2016 with the Minnesota Twins.
Here are the Australia-Korea WBC odds, courtesy of DraftKings.
2023 WBC Odds: Australia-Korea Odds
Australia: +1.5 (+215)
Korea: -1.5 (-255)
Over: 8 (-105)
Under: 8 (-115)
How To Watch Australia vs. Korea
TV: FOX
Stream: FOX Sports Go
Time: 10:00 PM ET/ 7:00 PM PT
*Watch sports LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why Australia Could Cover The Spread
Aaron Whitefield is the lone Australian position player on the roster with big-league experience. Whitefield debuted in 2020 with Minnesota and has failed to register a hit in 12 at-bats. Across his seven minor league seasons, Whitefield has stolen 180 bases while hitting 34 home runs. A group of prospects headlines the rest of the lineup. Robbie Glendenning, who spent 2022 in Double-A with the Royals, seems to have come into some power recently, slugging a career-high 19 home runs in 2022. Philadelphia Phillies farmhand Rixon Wingrove has reached High-A in the United States. Coming back to his home for winter ball, Wingrove has hit 16 home runs in 109 foreign games. Wingrove's best attribute is his substantial power. Liam Spence turned in a dominant college career at Tennessee and is now a member of the Chicago Cubs.
Warwick Saupold has pitched over 100 innings across three big league seasons, turning in a 4.98 ERA. Saupold also comes with two years of experience in the KBO, but has been pitching in his native Australia since 2020. Daniel McGrath ascended to Triple-A while a member of the Boston Red Sox organization, and has been back in Australia since 2020. Five other members of the staff are current minor leaguers.
Why Korea Could Cover The Spread
Other than Edman and current Padre Ha-Seong Kim, all of Korea's roster is currently employed by KBO teams. Edman is the most exciting of the group, finishing a season in which he stole 32 bases and hit 13 home runs, valued at 6.3 WAR according to Baseball Reference. Kim was brilliant for the Padres in the absence of Fernando Tatis, Jr. last season, hitting 11 home runs with expert defense at shortstop, all the while being worth 5.0 WAR according to Baseball Reference. ByungHo Park, despite hitting under .200 in his one MLB season, bashed 12 home runs in just 215 at-bats that season.
Popular baseball website FanGraphs, a one-stop shop for baseball analytics and prospect talk, looks favorably upon a number of pitchers for the Korea squad. Eight of the players are projected to become big leaguers should their KBO teams expose them to the posting system.
Final Australia-Korea Prediction & Pick
Take Korea to cover this spread in a low-scoring affair.
Final Australia-Korea Prediction & Pick: Korea -1.5 (-255); Under 8 (-115)
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