The World Baseball Classic is about as fun of a brand of baseball as it gets, at least in the eyes of this particular observer pounding away at the keyboard. Baseball is also back in the Olympics after it was removed for a while. But there’s another big international tournament that happens every four years – The Premier 12. The top 12 rated teams by the WBSC (World Baseball Softball Confederation) began in 2015 when South Korea won. In 2019 it was Japan that won the tournament.
The teams are made up of players who are not on a Major League club’s 40-man roster. Games will begin on November 9th in Mexico where Group A plays the opening round. Group B will play in Taiwan and Japan, with games beginning on November 13th.
The Cincinnati Reds will be represented on Team USA in Group A by pitcher Sam Benschoter. The right-handed pitcher split his time between Double-A Chattanooga (84.1 innings) and Triple-A Louisville (19.2 innings) this past season. He made 11 starts and 22 relief appearances, throwing 104.0 innings between the two stops with a 4.33 ERA, 43 walks, and 101 strikeouts. Former Reds catcher Chris Okey is also on the roster. And so is 44-year-old Rich Hill.
You can see Sam Benschoter’s career stats here.
Brent Suter is a Philanthorpist of the Year finalist
The Major League Baseball Players Association have released their finalists for the Players Choice Awards for 2024. Among the seven awards that are voted on, one of those happens to be the Philanthropist of the Year. Reds reliever Brent Suter was named as a finalist for that award, along with Rhys Hoskins of the Milwaukee Brewers and Jose Trevino of the New York Yankees.
Six weeks ago Brent Suter was named as the Reds nominee for the 2024 Roberto Clemente Award, which is based on community and philanthropic activities. So this is a very similar award, just voted on by the players.
The post The Reds go international with the Premier12 tournament appeared first on Redleg Nation.