USA Baseball Announces 2017 World Baseball Classic Roster

Five 2013 World Baseball Classic players return to Team USA in 2017
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DURHAM, N.C. - USA Baseball announced on Wednesday the 28-man roster for the 2017 World Baseball Classic. The roster is made up of 13 pitchers and 15 position players, and features 13 USA Baseball alumni - five of whom participated in the 2013 World Baseball Classic.
The roster also features 18 Major League All-Stars, two Most Valuable Players and nine Gold Glove recipients.

"We're excited to kick off the 2017 World Baseball Classic with the announcement of our roster," said Paul Seiler, Executive Director and CEO of USA Baseball. "USA Baseball strives to compete at the highest level on the international stage and we are thrilled to welcome a group of stellar athletes who will work tirelessly towards a World Baseball Classic title for the United States."

Luke Gregerson, Eric Hosmer, Adam Jones, Jonathan Lucroy and Giancarlo Stanton all return from the 2013 World Baseball Classic squad and join fellow alums Chris Archer, Alex Bregman, Brandon Crawford, Danny Duffy, Mychal Givens, Andrew McCutchen, Buster Posey and Marcus Stroman on the roster. The USA Baseball alumni collectively span two 16U National Teams, four 18U National Teams, four Collegiate National Teams, two Professional National Teams (comprised of players not on active 25-man Major League Baseball rosters) and one World Baseball Classic team.

The 2017 World Baseball Classic will reunite former USA Baseball teammates in McCutchen and Posey (2004 18U National Team), and Archer, Duffy and Hosmer (2010 Professional National Team).

The U.S. also announced the addition of Brett Cecil, Michael Fulmer, Sonny Gray, J.A. Happ, Drew Smyly and Alex Wilson to the designated pitcher pool. For the first time, teams will be able to select up to two pitchers to join the roster following each round of the tournament. These players will not immediately join Team USA in the first round but are available for designation upon advancing.

Gray (2009, 2010 Collegiate National Team) and Smyly (2011 Professional National Team) are also alumni of USA Baseball.

USA Baseball's 2017 World Baseball Classic roster:
Name, Position, MLB Club, Birthplace
Christian Archer, RHP, Tampa Bay Rays, Raleigh, N.C.
Nolan Arenado, 3B, Colorado Rockies, Newport Beach, Calif.
Alex Bregman, INF, Houston Astros, Albuquerque, N.M.
Matt Carpenter, 3B, St. Louis Cardinals, Galveston, Texas
Tyler Clippard, RHP, New York Yankees, Lexington, Ky.
Brandon Crawford, SS, San Francisco Giants, Mountain View, Calif.
Danny Duffy, (D.P.P.) LHP, Kansas City Royals, Goleta, Calif.
Sam Dyson, RHP, Texas Rangers, Tampa, Fla.
A.J. Ellis, C, Miami Marlins, Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Mychal Givens, RHP, Baltimore Orioles, Tampa, Fla.
Paul Goldschmidt, 1B, Arizona Diamondbacks, Wilmington, Del.
Luke Gregerson, RHP, Houston Astros, Park Ridge, Ill.
Eric Hosmer, 1B, Kansas City Royals, South Miami, Fla.
Adam Jones, OF, Baltimore Orioles, San Diego, Calif.
Nate Jones, RHP, Chicago White Sox, Butler, Ky.
Ian Kinsler, 2B, Detroit Tigers, Tucson, Ariz.
Jonathan Lucroy, C, Texas Rangers, Eustis, Fla.
Andrew McCutchen, OF, Pittsburgh Pirates, Fort Meade, Fla.
Jake McGee, LHP, Colorado Rockies, San Jose, Calif.
Andrew Miller, LHP, Cleveland Indians, Gainesville, Fla.
Daniel Murphy, 2B, Washington Nationals, Jacksonville, Fla.
Pat Neshek, RHP, Philadelphia Phillies, Madison, Wis.
Buster Posey, C, San Francisco Giants, Leesburg, Ga.
Tanner Roark, (D.P.P.) RHP, Washington Nationals, Wilmington, Ill.
David Robertson, RHP, Chicago White Sox, Birmingham, Ala.
Giancarlo Stanton, OF, Miami Marlins, Panorama, Calif.
Marcus Stroman, RHP, Toronto Blue Jays, Medford, N.Y.
Christian Yelich, OF, Miami Marlins, Thousand Oaks, Calif.

Designated Pitcher Pool:
Brett Cecil, LHP, St. Louis Cardinals, Dunkirk, Md.
Michael Fulmer, RHP, Detroit Tigers, Oklahoma City, Okla.
Sonny Gray, RHP, Oakland Athletics, Nashville, Tenn.
J.A. Happ, LHP, Toronto Blue Jays, Peru, Ill.
Drew Smyly, LHP, Seattle Mariners, Little Rock, Ark.
Alex Wilson, RHP, Detroit Tigers, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

The Miami Marlins lead all Major League clubs with three players represented on the Team USA roster, while eight teams are represented with two athletes apiece (Baltimore Orioles, Colorado Rockies, Chicago White Sox, Houston Astros, Kansas City Royals, San Francisco Giants, Texas Rangers and Washington Nationals).

General Manager Joe Torre and Field Manager Jim Leyland lead Team USA's staff. Also on the coaching staff is Tom Brookens (bench coach), Jeff Jones (pitching coach), Marcel Lachemann (bullpen coach), Tino Martinez (hitting coach), Willie Randolph (third base coach), Alan Trammell (first base coach), Mark Reed (BP catcher) and Roly DeArmas (BP pitcher).

USA Baseball's World Baseball Classic team will play its first-round games as part of Pool C at Marlins Park in Miami. The U.S. will face Colombia at 6:00 pm (ET) on Friday, March 10, before taking on defending champion Dominican Republic on March 11, and Canada on March 12.