Croatia
Croatia has participated in each Baseball European Championship since 1999. After capturing two eight-place finishes in 2001 and 2007, they actually accomplished their best result with a seventh place in 2021, the first year the format increased from 12 to 16 teams.
Behind a strong pitching effort by Jose Diaz they stunned Germany in the group stage to qualify for the quarterfinals. Diaz is back on the roster, which is managed by Damir Karin.
Still on the team are Slobodan Gales, Phil Smith, Antonio Horvatic, Kruno Gojkovic, Justin Olic and Jose Mendoza. Catcher Andrija Tomic will be missing after getting injured during his campaign in the German Baseball-Bundesliga.
France
France has had high hopes in previous editions of the Baseball European Championship. After finishing seventh in 2019, they managed only a 15th place out of 16 teams at the 2021 Baseball European Championship. They then cruised through the re-qualifying portion last year to get back to the A-Pool.
France has won one medal in tournament history so far, claiming bronze in 1999.
Manager Keino Perez has invited a roster, which includes veteran players like Felix Brown and Frederic Hanvi. But also on the team is teenage phenom Ben Couvreur, who just recently got featured on an article by MLB.com as one of the upcoming French pitching prospects.
From the current minor leaguers, Ernesto Martinez is on the roster, while newly drafted Mathias LaCombe is not.
Netherlands
The Netherlands have participated 33 times in the Baseball European Championship, they have finished in either first or second in each of the tournaments.
With that impressive tournament history and entering the event as winner of the last the four editions, the Dutch team of manager Evert-Jan ‘t Hoen is obvious the big favorite once again.
His coaching staff with Eugene Kingsale and Diegomar Markwell among others as well as the roster is reading like the who is who of European baseball.
Former Major Leaguers Didi Gregorius, JC Sulbaran, Shairon Martis and Roger Bernadina lead the team. Lars Huijer, Sicnarf Loopstock, Dashenko Ricardo and Denzel Richardson are back on the roster again.
Ukraine
After not qualifying for the 2019 edition, Ukraine returned to the A-Pool stage of Baseball European Championships in 2021 with a 13th place finish. Their best Baseball European Championships were the 1995 and 2007 editions, when they ended up in 9th place in the final standings.
Managed by Oleh Boyko the team faces the toughest preparation process of all teams as their personal life is heavily affected by the ongoing war on their home soil. Most of the team from 2021 is returning including Dmytro Limarenko, Kostiantyn Chukhas and Denys Brechko.
All games of the Baseball European Championship 2023 can be followed through live play by play on www.wbsceurope.org. All games will by streamed by Staylive through www.baseballeurope.tv.
All the teams rosters (with a maximum of 3 players are allowed to be replaced on the Final Team Roster at the technical meeting before the tournament) are available here.
Cover photo by Czech Baseball
