How Ezequiel Tovar’s Surprising Leadership Sparked a Rockies Revolution in the World Baseball Classic
Team Dominican Republic (5-1, eliminated in semifinals)
After their first five games, it looked like the Dominican Republic was the true powerhouse of this year’s tournament. With strong pitching and a surging offense—they had the most runs scored, home runs, and walked more than they struck out—they went 4-0 in the group stage and crushed Korea via mercy rule in the quarterfinals. However, their bats fell silent against the pitching of Team USA and were eliminated in the semifinals.
Young Rockies reliever Juan Mejia was originally named to the reserve pitcher’s list for the Dominican Republic, but found himself not only on the active roster but one of his country’s most utilized relievers. Mejia was one of six Dominican pitchers with three or more appearances in the tournament. In those three appearances and three innings, the breakout pitcher didn’t allow any runs—earned or otherwise—while only giving up two hours and tallying one strikeout without any walks.
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