Team USA Baseball vs. Venezuela: Expert predictions for the World Baseball Classic finals
It all comes down to one game Tuesday night
It's winner-take-all Tuesday night in the World Baseball Classic finals between Team USA and Venezuela.
The Americans, led by Aaron Judge, Cal Raleigh, Bobby Witt Jr., Gunnar Henderson and more stars, narrowly escaped pool play before taking down Canada in the quarterfinals and the Dominican Republic in the semifinals. They'll send Mets rookie Nolan McLean to the mound for the biggest game of his young career.
Venezuela, meanwhile, went 3-1 in pool play before beating Japan in the quarterfinals and Italy in the semifinals. They have their own star-laden roster, including Ronald Acuña Jr., Jackson Chourio, Willson Contreras and Eugenio Suárez. Veteran Eduardo Rodriguez gets the ball Tuesday night.
We'll leave the playing to the professionals, so a few of your CBS Sports MLB experts will instead try to predict how this all winds up.
WBC finals picks
| Pick |  |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| USA vs. Venezuela | Venezuela | Team USA | Team USA | Team USA |
Axisa: I'm pretty sure I've been wrong with all my WBC picks since pool play, so don't put much stock into this. I just feel like USA's offense has been sleeping walking for much of the last week, and I'm not sure how available/effective some of their top relievers will be given their recent workloads. Venezuela is a damn good team. This isn't a fun little underdog story like Italy. A Venezuela win should not be considered a shock if it happens. Prediction: Venezuela 6, USA 5
Feldman: Team USA is at, in my opinion, a clear pitching advantage thanks to both the starter matchup and reliever availability that I think it'll sway the game. Both offenses are commanding, even if the Americans don't seem to have hit their stride just yet (and maybe still won't!). But that extra day of rest for USA is just such a game-changer. Prediction: USA 6, Venezuela 4
Perry: I expect a good one, which assumes those big Venezuela bats perform as expected. I say it's a tight one, and Team USA stages a comeback in the middle and late innings to pull off a close win. The difference will be the more rested US bullpen, thanks to getting that day off that Venezuela did not receive because of the way the schedule fell. Aaron Judge plays the hero with a game-tying homer. Prediction: USA 7, Venezuela 6
Snyder: I think the USA offense is kind of lying in the weeds, ready to strike. The Venezuela bullpen isn't nearly as loaded as its offense and Eduardo Rodriguez hasn't been a good pitcher for several years. I also think the Venezuela offense can keep things interesting. I know the two semifinals were low scoring, so maybe I'm being a sucker here, but I think we're about to see a slugfest. I had USA before the tournament and prior to the quarterfinals, so why would I bail now? Prediction: USA 9, Venezuela 5
