CARY, N.C. – USA Baseball announced the 30-man roster for the 2023 World Baseball Classic earlier this week with former Texas A&M Aggie player Brooks Raley among the 15 pitchers selected.Â
Raley is the first former Aggie player to be selected for the international event, which started in 2006. The San Antonio native was a member of the Aggie baseball team in 2008 and 2009 where he earned All-America and All-Big 12 honors as a utility player before being drafted in the sixth round by the Chicago Cubs in the 2009 MLB Draft. Â
He made his debut for the Cubs in April of 2012 and pitched in 14 games in the 2012 and 2013 seasons before spending five seasons with the Lotte Giants of the KBO League (Korea). Raley returned to Major League Baseball with the Cincinnati Reds in 2020 and was traded to the Houston Astros later in the season where he also pitched in 2021 as part of Houston's run to the World Series.Â
He spent the 2022 season with the Tampa Bay Rays, putting up a 2.68 ERA in 53.2 innings with 61 strikeouts and only 15 walks before being dealt to the New York Mets in December. Â
Team USA will begin defense of its WBC title with first-round games as part of Pool C at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona. The US will open the tournament against Great Britain at 8 p.m. (CT) on Saturday, March 11, before taking on Mexico, Canada and Colombia on March 12, 13 and 15, respectively. The Pool C winner and runner-up will advance to the quarterfinals in Miami from March 17-18 and will match up against the winner and runner-up of Pool D.Â
The semifinals and finals will take place at loanDepot park in Miami from March 19-21.
Our very own Brooks Raley will pitch for @USABaseball next month ????
— Texas A&M Baseball (@AggieBaseball) February 15, 2023
?? https://t.co/JNnLmEWRWg#WorldBaseballClassic x #GigEm pic.twitter.com/wpukMWroBo