World Baseball Classic tiebreaker rules in 2023: Who advances from WBC pool play if teams are tied?
This year’s World Baseball Classic features perhaps the most competitive field in tournament history. This makes for better matchups, better moments, and better plays.
But it can also cause confusion. With great parity comes great responsibility, at least for tournament organizers. It’s hard to separate the real contenders from the fake ones when teams only have a few days to try and punch their ticket to the next round.
It can be a sin to cry at baseball. But bind? Well, that’s a lot more common.
So what are you doing? How do those in power distinguish two teams with identical records?
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The Sporting News describes the various policies used to clear deadlocks in WBC pool play.
World Baseball Classic Tiebreaker Rules
What happens when teams finish with the same record?
Nobody likes ties, especially in a packed tournament like the WBC. But they need to be dealt with, especially in a four-game pool schedule.
In the case of teams with matching records, the first tiebreaker rule the tournament uses is a head-to-head record between tied teams. All in all a pretty simple concept; Whoever did best in the matchups between evenly-matched teams probably deserved to advance to the next round.
But this rule is also put to the test, namely when there are a large number of deadlocked teams in the same pool.
In this case we move on to the second tie-break…
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What happens when teams set records even against their stuck opponents?
The WBC had to enact this contingency right away in 2023. Pool A was an absolute sucker, with Cuba, Italy, the Netherlands, Panama and Chinese Taipei all proving to be impressive opponents. The result: 2-2 records across the board.
For fans hoping to see competition, that was certainly a good thing. For tournament officials hoping for a seamless transition to the next round? Well, that was a little more stressful. Five teams with 2-2 records meant each team finished 2-2 against tied teams, making the first tiebreak rule obsolete.
So the organizers had to get creative. The second tiebreaker, designed to determine which teams made it out of Pool A, focused on defense: the two teams with the fewest runs per defensive out would buy their ticket to the knockout stages.
This may seem confusing, at least at first glance. But it’s not that bad. This formula simply focuses on dividing the number of runs allowed over the course of pool play by the number of defensive outs recorded.
Cuba, who gave up 15 runs and recorded 108 outs in their four pool play games, averaged 0.139 runs per out, the best rate in the pool. This made him the group winner.
Italy finished second, allowing 17 runs versus 108 outs. That’s a ratio of 0.157 runs allowed/out, a hair better than the Dutchman’s 0.186 runs allowed/out. As a result, the Italians move on.
Here is the official language as written in the WBC rules:
“The tied teams are ranked in the leaderboard by the lowest ratio of fewest runs allowed divided by the number of defensive outs recorded between the tied teams in games that round.”
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What happens if teams are tied on runs allowed per recorded defensive out?
Although runs per defensive outs are allowed, these may be recorded appear an unfathomable crucial determinant that can also end the level.
In this case, we proceed to the third (yes, third!) tiebreaker: Earned runs are allowed per defensive out recorded.
A sip, I know. Not all runs are created equal; Earned runs better reflect how much a pitcher struggled or didn’t struggle.
Thus, if teams are even on runs allowed per defensive out, superiority would be given to the side that surrendered less earned Runs recorded per defensive out. So if two teams in a pool each gave up 15 runs compared to 108 defensive outs, the advantage would go to the side that allows more earned runs to cross the plate.
The official language as provided by the WBC:
“The tied teams are ranked in the leaderboard by the lowest ratio of fewest runs earned divided by the number of defensive outs recorded in games in that round between the tied teams.”
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What happens if teams are tied on earned runs allowed per recorded defensive out?
As you’ve probably guessed, the WBC is a crash shoot. And if you’ve had to dig that deep into the rulebook, don’t be surprised when teams finish tied on earned runs allowed per recorded defensive outs.
In such a scenario, we return to attack. The ranking is determined based on which team has the highest batting average in games against tied teams.
“The tied teams will be ranked in the leaderboard according to the highest batting average in games in that round between the tied teams.”
Perhaps a suggestion to call this the Rod Carew Rule?
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What happens when teams are on batting average in games between tied teams?
Somehow even that marker – batting average in pool games between tied teams – can prove indecipherable. If that’s unlikely, we reach our fifth (and final) tiebreaker: a good old-fashioned drawing of straws.
“Places will be determined by drawing of lots conducted by the WBCI.”
You gotta love an elementary school classic.