This is an excerpt from The Buzzer, which is CBC Sports' daily email newsletter. Stay up to speed on what's happening in sports by subscribing here. The best-on-best international tournament hasn't been staged in six years because of the pandemic.
It returns Tuesday with Cuba and the Netherlands squaring off from Taichung, Taiwan, at 11 p.m. ET. First pitch for Canada, which is playing out of Phoenix, Ariz., is on Sunday against Great Britain.
Here's everything else you need to know: Player participation is closer to soccer's World Cup than Olympic men's hockey. The timing of the tournament right before the start of the MLB season means some players won't want to risk injury, and the tournament, which only began in 2006, still lacks some prestige.
But for the most part, the WBC remains a pretty decent representation of each country's standing on the baseball world stage.