USA Baseball named its 24-man roster for the Olympics Games in Tokyo on Friday, with 14 players taking major league experience into the six-team tournament.
The United States squad even has Winter Olympics experience with former short-track speed skater Eddy Alvarez named as an infielder. Alvarez, who participated in the 2014 Winter Olympics, played 12 games with the Miami Marlins last season and is currently a minor leaguer in the team’s system.
Four of the former major leaguers on Team USA have been All-Stars: pitchers Edwin Jackson, Scott Kazmir and David Robertson, as well as infielder Todd Frazier. Jackson and Robertson are former World Series champions.
The team will be managed by Mike Scioscia, who played with the Los Angeles Dodgers for 13 seasons and was the manager of the Los Angeles Angels for 19 seasons.
The roster, with current major-league organization, if applicable:
Pitchers: Jackson, Robertson, Kazmir (San Francisco Giants AA), Shane Baz (Tampa Bay Rays AAA), Anthony Carter (Saraperos de Saltillo), Brandon Dickson (St. Louis Cardinals AAA), Anthony Gose (Cleveland Indians AAA), Nick Martinez (Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks), Scott McGough (Tokyo Yakult Swallows), Joe Ryan (Tampa Bay Rays AAA), Ryder Ryan (Texas Rangers AAA), and Simeon Woods-Richardson (Toronto Blue Jays AA)
Catchers: Tim Federowicz (Los Angeles Dodgers AAA), Mark Kolozsvary (Cincinnati Reds AA)
Infielders: Frazier, Nick Allen (Oakland Athletics AA), Alvarez (Miami Marlins AAA), Triston Casas (Boston Red Sox AA), Jamie Westbrook (Milwaukee Brewers AAA)
Outfielders: Tyler Austin (Yokohama DeNA Baybears), Eric Filia (Seattle Mariners AAA), Patrick Kivlehan (San Diego Padres AAA), and Bubba Starling (Kansas City Royals AAA)
Utility: Jack Lopez (Boston Red Sox AAA)
Baseball will be returning to the Olympics for the first time since 2008 at Beijing, China. The United States won gold at Sydney in 2000 and at Seoul when it was a demonstration sport in 1988. The team won bronze at Atlanta (1996) and Beijing.
Team USA will open the Tokyo Olympics on July 30 against Israel. Other participants are the Dominican Republic, Japan, South Korea and Mexico.
–Field Level Media