Everything you should know as the World Baseball Classic makes its return

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The best-on-best international tournament hasn't been staged in six years because of the pandemic. It returns Tuesday with Cuba and the Netherlands squaring off from Taichung, Taiwan, at 11 p.m. ET. First pitch for Canada, which is playing out of Phoenix, Ariz., is on Sunday against Great Britain.

Here's everything else you need to know:

Player participation is closer to soccer's World Cup than Olympic men's hockey. The timing of the tournament right before the start of the MLB season means some players won't want to risk injury, and the tournament, which only began in 2006, still lacks some prestige. But for the most part, the WBC remains a pretty decent representation of each country's standing on the baseball world stage. For example, Blue Jays slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr., wanted to participate and was on the Dominican roster until a minor knee injury in spring training led him to back out over the weekend in favour of preparing for the regular season. Shame for Dominican fans, relief for Jays fans. There's still plenty of starpower divided across four pools of 20 teams, including former MVPs Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and young Atlanta slugger Ronald Acuna Jr.

Canada also has a former MVP. That would be Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman, a legit superstar who won the award while playing for Atlanta in 2020. Freeman was born in California, grew up there and played college baseball there, too. But both of his parents were born in Ontario, and Freeman, who also represented Canada at the 2017 WBC, says he chooses the Maple Leaf as a way to honour his mother Rosemary, who died of melanoma when he was just 10. Other notable names on the Canadian roster are Tyler O'Neill, who mashed 34 homers for the Cardinals in 2021, Cal Quantrill, a Guardians starter and the son of former MLBer Paul Quantrill, and John Axford, the once-dominant reliever who's now 39 and has recorded just one MLB out since 2018. Adam Loewen, who hasn't pitched in MLB since 2016, is also on the roster.

But Team Canada isn't close to its strongest. Joey Votto is missing as he builds up for the season after his 2022 campaign ended in injury. Also absent for injury-related reasons are Atlanta ace Mike Soroka and Guardians slugger Josh Naylor. Blue Jays closer Jordan Romano, of Markham, Ont., had originally committed to play at the WBC for Italy, but he backed out before becoming a true Benedict Arnold. Canada has never advanced past the WBC group stage.

The U.S. and Mexico are Canada's top foes. Those three nations are joined by Colombia and Great Britain in Pool C. Each plays another once in the round robin, after which the top two teams from all four groups advance to the quarterfinals, which are split between Tokyo and Miami, where the semifinals and final will also be held. The U.S. is absolutely loaded, with Trout and Betts roaming the outfield while Cardinals stars Paul Goldschmidt (the reigning NL MVP) and Nolan Arenado man first and third base, respectively. The Americans could be vulnerable on the mound, where another Cardinal, Adam Wainwright, is their likely ace after Clayton Kershaw was forced to withdraw for injury reasons. In three previous WBC matchups, Canada upset the U.S. in 2009 before losing by a run in 2013 and getting blown out in 2017. Mexico, meanwhile, boasts a solid pitching staff led by Julio Urias but may lack some offensive juice.

The betting favourites to win the whole thing are Japan and the Dominican Republic. Even without Guerrero Jr., the Dominican lineup is absolutely loaded, featuring the likes of Acuna Jr., reigning AL rookie of the year Julio Rodriguez and all-stars Juan Soto, Manny Machado and Rafael Devers. Two-way star Ohtani headlines Japan, which is otherwise mostly made up of talent from its domestic league like Munetaka Murakami, a 22-year-old who broke a long-held single-season home-run record last year. He's scheduled to make the move to MLB in 2025. Japan won the first two iterations of the tournament, while the Dominicans earned their first title in 2013 and the Americans were victorious in 2017.

MLB's new rule changes won't be on display. You'll have to stick to spring training if you want to see the pitch clock or shift ban in action. The WBC is played under 2022 MLB rules, meaning every game will feature a designated hitter, each pitcher must face at least three batters and extra innings will begin with a runner on second base. There's also a pitch count limit like you'd see in Little League, which holds pitchers to 65 pitches in group play, 80 in the quarterfinals and 95 thereafter.