The performance of the Chinese national baseball team in the World Baseball Classic (WBC) is generally in the development stage, and the following is the key analysis:

Historical performance

Number of entries: 2006, 2009, 2013, 2017, 2023 (5 in total)

Best result: Did not qualify in the group stage (11th in the highest single edition)

Record: 2-15 all-time (as of 2023)

2023 WBC Performance:

Grouping:Group B (Japan, Korea, Australia, Czech Republic, China)

Results:

China 1-8 Japan

China 2-12 Czech Republic

China 1-22 South Korea (4 games ended early)

China 2-12 Australia

Outstanding problems: more defensive errors (3 turnovers per game), insufficient pitcher pressure (team defense rate of 12.27), weak hitting firepower (1.5 points per game).

Constraints

Talent pool: There are less than 500 registered players in China, far lower than Japan and South Korea (both over 100,000).

League system: The China Baseball League (CNBL) has only 6 professional teams, and the degree of commercialization is low.

Shortcomings in youth training: The population of youth baseball is about 30,000, and there is a lack of systematic training mechanism.

Positive developments

Naturalized players: Introduce Chinese players in the MLB system (such as Zhu Quan and Yusuke Masa) to supplement their immediate combat power.

International cooperation: Cooperate with MLB to establish the Wuxi Development Center, which trains an average of 30 potential players every year.

Olympic opportunity: The return of baseball at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics will promote increased policy support.

Developing

Grassroots popularization: By 2025, it is planned to add 300 primary and secondary schools with baseball characteristics.

Professional reform: The goal is to expand the CNBL to 10 teams by 2027 and introduce a foreign aid system.

Technology upgrade: Introduce TrackMan and other data systems to optimize the training system.

If the average annual investment growth rate of 15% is maintained, it is expected to hit the top five in Asia in the 2030s. The short-term breakthrough point is to strengthen the training of pitchers (the current average speed of U18 pitchers is only 135km/h, and the average speed of Japan and South Korea has reached 145km+) and increase the frequency of international competitions (the current average is less than 10 A-level games per year).