How to watch the Guardians in the World Baseball Classic

In less than 48 hours there will be baseball with at least some kind of stakes when Cuba and the Netherlands kick off the World Baseball Classic on March 7 at 11 p.m. ET in Taiwan.

Stateside Guardians fans willing to stay up that late for an exhibition game might catch a glimpse of Richie Palacios. For everyone else, you’ll need to wait to see some familiar faces. If you are going by pure numbers for your rooting interest, Canada has three Guards on their roster, including Cal Quantrill (who will be coached by his dad, Paul).

This will be the fifth World Baseball Classic and the first since 2017, as 2021’s scheduled tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Pool play will consist of 20 international teams — mostly comprised of MLB and MiLB players — split into four groups playing games in Taichung, Taiwan; Tokyo, Japan; and two cities in the United States (Pheonix and Miami). The elimination tournament begins on March 15 and concludes with the championship game in Miami on March 21, a little more than a week before the MLB regular season starts.

Team USA will look to repeat as champions and become the first back-to-back WBC champs since Japan in 2006 and 2009. This year also introduces three new teams to the contest: Great Britain, the Czech Republic, and Nicaragua.

Here’s a refresher on which Guardians made the cut for their respective countries last month. The full WBC rosters can be found here.

• Enyel De Los Santos (Dominican Republic)*
• Dayan Frias (Colombia)
• Meibrys Viloria (Colombia)
• Andrés Giménez (Venezuela)
• Bo Naylor (Canada)
• Cal Quantrill (Canada)
• Cade Smith (Canada)
• Richie Palacios (Netherlands)
• Josh Wolf (Israel)

And here are some key dates and games to keep in mind if you want to maximize your Guardians viewing time during the group stage of the tournament. The full WBC schedule can be found here.

*Enyel De Los Santos is still listed on the Dominican Republic roster but is dealing with a hamstring injury.

Tuesday, March 7

• Cuba @ Netherlands, 11 p.m. ET (FS1)

Wednesday, March 8

• Panama @ Netherlands, 11 p.m. ET (FS2)

Saturday, March 11

• Netherlands @ Chinese Taipei, 6 a.m. ET (FS1)
• Colombia @ Mexico, 2:30 p.m. ET (FOX)
• Dominican Republic @ Venezuela, 7 p.m. ET (FS1)

Sunday, March 12

• Netherlands @ Italy, 7 a.m. ET (FS1)
• Nicaragua @ Israel, 12 p.m. ET (FS2)
• Great Britain vs. Canada, 3 p.m. ET (FS1)
• Venezuela @ Puerto Rico, 7 p.m. ET (FS1)

Monday, March 13

• Dominican Republic @ Nicaragua, 12 p.m. ET (FS2)
• Colombia @ Great Britain, 3 p.m. ET (FS2)
• Israel @ Puerto Rico, 7 p.m. ET (FS1)
• Canada @ United States, 10 p.m. ET (FS1)

Tuesday, March 14

• Nicaragua @ Venezuela, 12 p.m. ET (FS2)
• Canada @ Colombia, 3 p.m. ET (FS2)
• Israel @ Dominican Republic, 7 p.m. ET (FS1)

Wednesday, March 15

• Venezuela @ Israel, 12 p.m. ET (FS2)
• Mexican @ Canada, 3 p.m. ET (FS2)
• Puerto Rico @ Dominican Republic, 7 p.m. ET (FS1)
• United States @ Colombia, 10 p.m. ET (FS1)