USA was expected to have a great showing in the inaugural 2006 tournament, only to finish outside the Final Four after barely squeaking by the opening round.<\/p>\n
Despite that poor showing, there is tons of optimism surrounding them this year and that makes them a solid value at 8:5 odds to win the tournament at Sportsbook.com.<\/p>\n
Make sure you check out all the World Baseball Classic odds at Sportsbook.com<\/strong> and don\u2019t forget about our Opening Day Double Play promotion that will send you to the MLB Opening Day game of your choice simply for betting on the WBC.<\/p>\n There are two big reasons why the Americans should bounce back strong in this tourney: attitude and chemistry.<\/p>\n The team is littered with a new breed of scrappy, yet talented players who grind out every at bat and really want to be part of this event, unlike some of their 2006 counterparts.<\/p>\n Boston\u2019s Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis, Philadelphia\u2019s Shane Victorino and Jimmy Rollins, Milwaukee\u2019s Ryan Braun and the NY Mets\u2019 David Wright are prime examples of guys who are hungry to be in the event for the first time and will really battle.<\/p>\n Pedroia, last year\u2019s unlikely MLB MVP, is the poster child for the new American player. He is generously listed at 5\u20199\u201d but he performs far beyond his athletic ability and has a bravado that matches his competitiveness.<\/p>\n Pedroia told Red Sox teammate Jason Bay, who is playing for the Canadian team, to only pack one pair of underwear for his trip to the tournament as \u2018that\u2019s all he\u2019ll be needing\u2019. Canada actually upset USA in the first round last time, 11-8 and you can be sure that USA will take the game far more seriously when they face them this Saturday in Toronto. And while these first-time American players are sure to provide a spark, the veterans from 2006 are also desperate for a different outcome.<\/p>\n The Yankees\u2019 Derek Jeter is the biggest name on the squad and he feels like he has something to prove despite hitting .450 and being named to the All-Tournament team last time around. Atlanta\u2019s Chipper Jones is another guy sure to be playing with a \u2018chip\u2019 on his shoulder after 2006.<\/p>\n Starting pitching is always key in these kind of events and the U.S. team is led by San Diego\u2019s Jake Peavy and Houston\u2019s Roy Owalt. Like the hitters, the pitching staff doesn\u2019t have as many star players but that may work to their advantage.<\/p>\n One final thing the U.S. has going for them is the Alex Rodriguez factor. Nicknamed \u2018The Cooler\u2019 for his failure to elevate his team\u2019s play despite his prodigious talent, Rodriguez has decided to play for the Dominican team after playing for the Americans in 2006.<\/p>\n Considering the steroid distraction is still following A-Rod\u2019s every move, this is clearly addition by subtraction and another reason to take USA over the slightly favored (7:5) Dominican Republic.<\/p>\n Looking to place a bet on the American team at the World Baseball Classic? Try Sportsbook.com! This is the baseball betting and handicapping preview for you though…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[11263,102,111,161,11264,11269,1178,11266,11265,11267,11268,11262,10623],"class_list":["post-9144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sportsbooks","tag-baseball","tag-baseball-betting","tag-baseball-picks","tag-betting","tag-classic","tag-sportsbook-baseball-odds","tag-sportsbookcom","tag-wbc-baseball-betting","tag-wbc-handicapping","tag-wbc-picks","tag-wbc-predictions","tag-world","tag-world-baseball-classic"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/68"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9144"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9144\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":106521,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9144\/revisions\/106521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n
Click Here Now To bet on the World Baseball Classic at Sportbook.com.<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"