Cueto and Volquez to pitch for Dominican Republic in 2009 World Baseball Classic

[OnBaseMachine]

Brewers bullpen coach Bill Castro, who will serve as the pitching coach for the Dominican Republic in the 2009 World Baseball Classic, spent time Tuesday lobbying Reds closer Francisco Cordero to pitch in the tournament. Cordero's teammates Johnny Cueto and Edinson Volquez have tentatively agreed to pitch.

http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/news/...=.jsp&c_id=cin

I just hope neither are allowed to pitch winter ball this offseason. They are both going to end up with a lot of innings pitched and shouldn't be allowed to pitch in winter ball.

[Matt700wlw]

They both already have a lot of innings under their arms

[919191]

I don't know how that works. Can they be dis-allowed?

It's to the point in the season that maybe it would be best to shut them down the rest of the way in anticipation of their participation in the Classic.

[redsmetz]

What gives me concern is that I don't think MLB has figured out how to lessen the stress on pitchers, in particular, of playing the classic right at the start of Spring Training. As I recall, a few pitchers had some serious problems after the last one. Am I remembering that correctly? I'm all for players representing their country, but I would like to know that our training staff is working closely with monitoring their use for the Classic.

[oneupper]

What gives me concern is that I don't think MLB has figured out how to lessen the stress on pitchers, in particular, of playing the classic right at the start of Spring Training. As I recall, a few pitchers had some serious problems after the last one. Am I remembering that correctly? I'm all for players representing their country, but I would like to know that our training staff is working closely with monitoring their use for the Classic.

Luis Ayala had serious arm problems after last WBC.

Cueto and Volquez have one advantage. They can get in some innings in the DomRep winter season before heading to the WBC and get there "cold".

[LoganBuck]

Luis Ayala had serious arm problems after last WBC.

Cueto and Volquez have one advantage. They can get in some innings in the DomRep winter season before heading to the WBC and get there "cold".

Is that an advantage for the Reds or the Dominican Republic?

[LoganBuck]

Gary Majewski always pinned his dead arm on overuse by the Nationals, and the WBC. I don't like this at all. They are asking the Reds to expose three high leverage arms to extra risk.

[KronoRed]

Not a fan of this, save the arms!

[Hap]

Did anyone actually watch and/or care about the WBC the last time it was on?

[Big Klu]

Did anyone actually watch and/or care about the WBC the last time it was on?

I did. I even bought a Team USA cap and Ken Griffey Jr. USA jersey.

[TheBurn]

I did...

I did as well.

[919191]

Did anyone actually watch and/or care about the WBC the last time it was on?

I enjoyed it. Alot.

[OnBaseMachine]

I enjoyed it. Alot.

As did I.

In addition to Cueto and Volquez pitching for the DR, and possibly Cordero, I expect Votto will probably play for Canada and maybe Bruce and Dunn for the USA. IIRC Dunn was going to play for the US in the last WBC but backed out because that's when the Reds were planning on moving him to first base and he wanted to stay in spring training and work harder on making the transition to first.

[cumberlandreds]

Did anyone actually watch and/or care about the WBC the last time it was on?

I watched some of it only because I was starving for some baseball. I could see this becoming a big event for the rest of the world with the USA just yawning at it. MLB will always be king in this country.

[OnBaseMachine]

MLB.com is currently showing a replay of Cueto's major league debut for those interested in watching. That's one of the highlights of my career as a Reds fan.

http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=cin