2024 WBSC Premier12

The 2024 WBSC Premier12 was the 3rd edition of the WBSC Premier12, a baseball championship featuring the 12 highest-ranked national teams in the world, held by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC). Originally scheduled for 2023, but delayed due to COVID-19, the championship was held from November 9 to 24, 2024, in Japan, Mexico, and Taiwan.^[1]

2024 WBSC Premier12

Tournament details
Countries	Japan  Mexico  Taiwan
Dates	November 9–24
Teams	12
Final positions
Champions	Chinese Taipei (1st title)
Runners-up	Japan
Third place	United States
Fourth place	Venezuela
Tournament statistics
Games played	38
Attendance	518,636 (13,648 per game)
Awards
MVP	Chieh-Hsien Chen
← 2019 2027 →

Taiwan won the championship, defeating final round hosts and defending champions Japan, 4–0, in the championship game. It was Chinese Taipei's first Premier12 championship and their first overall senior international baseball title ever.^[2][3]

The United States took third place after a 6–1 win over Venezuela.^[4]

Teams

The 12 highest-ranked national teams qualified to participate in the 2024 WBSC Premier 12, based on the WBSC World Rankings, as of 18 December 2023. On 20 December, the 12 teams were confirmed, with the only difference from 2019 was Canada being replaced by debutants Panama.^[5][6] The WBSC had originally wanted to expand this edition but due to COVID-19, halted the plans for a future edition.^[7]

Africa (0) None qualified Asia (3)  Chinese Taipei  Japan  South Korea List of qualified teams   Team qualified

Americas (7)  Cuba  Dominican Republic  Mexico  Panama  Puerto Rico  United States  Venezuela Europe (1)  Netherlands Oceania (1)  Australia

Top 12 Rankings as of December 18, 2023[8] Rank Team Points Confederation 1  Japan 5797 BFA 2  Mexico 4764 COPABE 3  United States 4492 COPABE 4  South Korea 4353 BFA 5  Chinese Taipei 4170 BFA 6  Venezuela 3975 COPABE 7  Netherlands 3288 CEB 8  Cuba 3121 COPABE 9  Dominican Republic 2667 COPABE 10  Panama 2534 COPABE 11  Australia 2367 BCO 12  Puerto Rico 2355 COPABE

Rosters

Main article: 2024 WBSC Premier12 rosters

Participating nations had to submit their final 28-man rosters no later than 10 October 2024. WBSC rules required teams to carry at least 13 pitchers and two catchers in their squads.^[9]

Format

The format underwent a slightly different format compared to 2019.

Opening Round

The tournament began with two groups of six teams each playing in the 12-team Opening Round. Each team played five games, in a round robin format against each other in the group. The top two teams from each group advanced to the Super Round.

Super Round

The four remaining teams who advanced to the Super Round, traveled to Japan where they played against the top two teams that advanced from the other group.

After completion, the teams who finished first and second played the gold medal match, while the teams placed third and fourth played for bronze.

Venues

Six stadiums were used during the tournament. Japanese cities, Nagoya and Tokyo plus the Taiwanese capital, Taipei, were confirmed as host cities on 11 September 2023, while a then-unknown country from the Americas was scheduled to host the event too.^[1] That then-unknown country turned out to be Mexico, with venues in Guadalajara and Tepic being chosen to host an Opening Round group on 4 April 2024.^[10]

Group A	Group B
Guadalajara, Mexico	Taipei, Taiwan	Nagoya, Japan
Estadio Panamericano	Taipei Dome	Vantelin Dome Nagoya
Capacity: 16,500	Capacity: 40,000	Capacity: 36,418
Guadalajara Tepic	Taipei	Nagoya Tokyo
Group A	Group B	Super Round and Medal rounds
Tepic, Mexico	Taipei, Taiwan	Tokyo, Japan
Coloso del Pacífico[11]	Taipei Tianmu Baseball Stadium	Tokyo Dome
Capacity: 9,480	Capacity: 10,500	Capacity: 45,600

Opening round

The groups were announced on 18 April 2024.^[12] The schedule was announced on 28 May 2024.^[13]

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	RF	RA	RD	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	Venezuela	5	4	1	31	13	+18	.800	—	Advance to Super Round
2	United States	5	3	2	36	13	+23	.600[a]	1
3	Panama	5	3	2	22	25	−3	.600[a]	1
4	Mexico (H)	5	2	3	23	34	−11	.400[b]	2
5	Netherlands	5	2	3	37	47	−10	.400[b]	2
6	Puerto Rico	5	1	4	19	36	−17	.200	3

Source: WBSC
Rules for classification: 1) Wins; 2) Head to head; 3) Head to head Team's Quality Balance; 4) Earned Runs Team's Quality Balance; 5) Head to head highest batting average; 6) Coin toss^[14]
(H) Hosts
Notes:

1. Head to head results: Panama 3–9 United States
2. Head to head results: Mexico 8–6 Netherlands

Date	Local time	Road team	Score	Home team	Inn.	Venue	Game duration	Attendance	Boxscore
9 November	13:00	Panama	8–9	Netherlands	10	Estadio Panamericano	3:29	347	Boxscore
9 November	16:00	Puerto Rico	1–0	United States		Coloso del Pacífico	3:07	7,820	Boxscore
9 November	20:00	Venezuela	8–4	Mexico		Estadio Panamericano	3:24	9,758	Boxscore
10 November	13:00	Venezuela	2–4	Panama		Estadio Panamericano	2:36	414	Boxscore
10 November	16:00	Netherlands	2–12	United States	8	Coloso del Pacífico	2:32	5,133	Boxscore
10 November	20:00	Mexico	7–5	Puerto Rico		Estadio Panamericano	3:32	2,921	Boxscore
11 November	19:00	United States	3–5	Venezuela		Coloso del Pacífico	2:52	7,018	Boxscore
11 November	20:00	Panama	3–2	Mexico		Estadio Panamericano	3:09	1,921	Boxscore
12 November	19:00	Panama	3–9	United States		Coloso del Pacífico	3:12	4,320	Boxscore
12 November	20:00	Netherlands	20–8	Puerto Rico	7	Estadio Panamericano	2:46	622	Boxscore
13 November	13:00	Puerto Rico	2–5	Venezuela		Estadio Panamericano	2:53	533	Boxscore
13 November	20:00	Mexico	8–6	Netherlands		Estadio Panamericano	3:20	2,257	Boxscore
14 November	13:00	Netherlands	0–11	Venezuela	7	Estadio Panamericano	1:59	239	Boxscore
14 November	19:00	Puerto Rico	3–4	Panama		Coloso del Pacífico	2:52	7,240	Boxscore
14 November	20:00	United States	12–2	Mexico	7	Estadio Panamericano	2:45	9,721	Boxscore

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	RF	RA	RD	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	Japan (H)	5	5	0	36	16	+20	1.000	—	Advance to Super Round
2	Chinese Taipei (H)	5	4	1	22	10	+12	.800	1
3	South Korea	5	3	2	28	24	+4	.600	2
4	Australia	5	1	4	16	29	−13	.200[a]	4
5	Dominican Republic	5	1	4	16	28	−12	.200[a]	4
6	Cuba	5	1	4	15	26	−11	.200[a]	4

Source: WBSC
Rules for classification: 1) Wins; 2) Head to head; 3) Head to head Team's Quality Balance; 4) Earned Runs Team's Quality Balance; 5) Head to head highest batting average; 6) Coin toss^[14]
(H) Hosts
Notes:

1. Tied on head to head results. Head to head Team's Quality Balance: Australia 0.24, Dominican Republic −0.02, Cuba −0.21.

Date	Local time	Road team	Score	Home team	Inn.	Venue	Game duration	Attendance	Boxscore
13 November	18:30	Dominican Republic	6–1	Cuba		Tianmu Stadium	3:09	255	Boxscore
13 November	18:30	South Korea	3–6	Chinese Taipei		Taipei Dome	2:56	39,000	Boxscore
13 November	19:00	Australia	3–9	Japan		Vantelin Dome Nagoya	3:13	30,691	Boxscore
14 November	18:00	Cuba	4–8	South Korea		Tianmu Stadium	3:16	2,225	Boxscore
14 November	18:30	Chinese Taipei	2–1	Dominican Republic		Taipei Dome	3:00	25,000	Boxscore
15 November	15:00	Dominican Republic	0–5	Australia		Tianmu Stadium	2:41	1,112	Boxscore
15 November	18:00	South Korea	3–6	Japan		Taipei Dome	3:31	20,028	Boxscore
16 November	12:00	Australia	3–4	Cuba		Tianmu Stadium	3:19	1,418	Boxscore
16 November	18:00	Japan	3–1	Chinese Taipei		Taipei Dome	3:19	34,882	Boxscore
16 November	18:30	Dominican Republic	6–9	South Korea		Tianmu Stadium	3:36	3,387	Boxscore
17 November	18:00	Cuba	6–7	Japan		Tianmu Stadium	4:07	4,955	Boxscore
17 November	18:30	Chinese Taipei	11–3	Australia		Taipei Dome	4:07	34,166	Boxscore
18 November	12:00	Australia	2–5	South Korea		Tianmu Stadium	3:21	1,799	Boxscore
18 November	18:00	Japan	11–3	Dominican Republic		Tianmu Stadium	3:22	2,572	Boxscore
18 November	18:30	Cuba	0–2	Chinese Taipei		Taipei Dome	2:59	30,924	Boxscore

Super Round

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	RF	RA	RD	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	Japan (H)	3	3	0	27	13	+14	1.000	—	Advance to gold medal game
2	Chinese Taipei	3	1	2	14	13	+1	.333[a]	2
3	Venezuela	3	1	2	13	15	−2	.333[a]	2	Advance to bronze medal game
4	United States	3	1	2	9	22	−13	.333[a]	2

Source: WBSC
Rules for classification: 1) Wins; 2) Head to head; 3) Head to head Team's Quality Balance; 4) Earned Runs Team's Quality Balance; 5) Head to head highest batting average; 6) Coin toss^[14]
(H) Hosts
Notes:

1. Tied on head to head results. Head to head Team's Quality Balance: Chinese Taipei 0.21, Venezuela 0.08, United States –0.28.

The order of the Super Round games could change.

Date	Local time	Road team	Score	Home team	Inn.	Venue	Game duration	Attendance	Boxscore
21 November	12:00	Chinese Taipei	0–2	Venezuela		Tokyo Dome	2:39	6,790	Boxscore
21 November	19:00	United States	1–9	Japan		Tokyo Dome	3:07	25,428	Boxscore
22 November	12:00	Chinese Taipei	8–2	United States		Tokyo Dome	3:29	9,472	Boxscore
22 November	19:00	Venezuela	6–9	Japan		Tokyo Dome	3:52	33,300	Boxscore
23 November	12:00	United States	6–5	Venezuela		Tokyo Dome	3:18	8,868	Boxscore
23 November	19:00	Chinese Taipei	6–9	Japan		Tokyo Dome	3:18	41,674	Boxscore

Finals

Bronze medal game

Date	Local time	Road team	Score	Home team	Inn.	Venue	Game duration	Attendance	Boxscore
24 November	12:00	United States	6–1	Venezuela		Tokyo Dome	3:07	8,386	Boxscore

Championship final

Date	Local time	Road team	Score	Home team	Inn.	Venue	Game duration	Attendance	Boxscore
24 November	19:00	Chinese Taipei	4–0	Japan		Tokyo Dome	2:57	41,827	Boxscore

Final standings

Rk Team W L 1  Chinese Taipei 6 3 2  Japan 8 1 Bronze medal game 3  United States 5 4 4  Venezuela 5 4 Eliminated in Group stage 5  South Korea 3 2 5  Panama 3 2 7  Australia 1 4 7  Mexico 2 3 9  Dominican Republic 1 4 9  Netherlands 2 3 11  Cuba 1 4 11  Puerto Rico 1 4

2024 WBSC Premier 12  Chinese Taipei 1st title

Prize money

The WBSC gave $5.2 million in prize money to participants, distributed as follows, with a minimum of half of a team's prize money being distributed equally among its players:^{[citation needed]}

• Winner: US$1,500,000
• 2nd Place: US$750,000
• 3rd Place: US$500,000
• 4th Place: US$350,000
• 5th Place: US$300,000
• 6th Place: US$250,000
• 7–12th Place: US$180,000 each
• Each win in Opening Round: US$10,000
• Each win in Super Round: US$20,000
• 1st Place in Opening Round: US$20,000

Statistical leaders

^[15]

Batting Statistic Name Total/Avg Batting average* Chieh-Hsien Chen .625 Hits Chandler Simpson 17 Runs Shōta Morishita 13 Home runs Ryan Ward 5 Runs batted in Matt Shaw 14 Strikeouts Luke Ritter 13 Stolen bases Chandler Simpson 9 On-base percentage* Chieh-Hsien Chen .700 Slugging percentage* Kim Do-yeong 1.059 OPS* Chieh-Hsien Chen 1.617 * Minimum 2 plate appearances per team game Pitching Statistic Name Total/Avg ERA 7 tied with[note 1] 0.00 Wins 2 tied with[note 2] 2 Losses 3 tied with[note 3] 2 Saves Chun-Wei Wu 3 Innings pitched Tzu-Peng Huang 12.0 Hits allowed Shairon Martis 17 Runs allowed Shairon Martis 15 Earned runs allowed Shairon Martis 15 Walks Takahisa Hayakawa 10 Strikeouts 2 tied with[note 4] 16 WHIP* Tzu-Peng Huang 0.50 * Minimum 0.8 innings pitched per team game

Notes

1. Alberto Baldonado, Jorge Benitez, Chang Yi, Been Gwak, Rich Hill, Franklyn Kilome, Seohyeon Kim
2. Chang Yi, Haruto Inoue
3. Sam Benschoter, Po-Ching Chen, Liván Moinelo
4. Hiroto Takahshi, Chihiro Sumida

Awards

Following the conclusion of the tournament, the WBSC announced the Premier12 All-World Team and individual awards winners.^[16]

All-World Team Position Player Starting Pitcher Rich Hill Relief Pitcher Oddanier Mosqueda Catcher Shōgo Sakakura First Baseman Carlos Pérez Second Baseman Kaito Kozono Third Baseman Matt Shaw Shortstop Didi Gregorius Outfielders Chandler Simpson Chieh-Hsien Chen Shōta Morishita Designated Hitter Ryan Ward

Individual Awards Award Player Value Most Valuable Player Chieh-Hsien Chen Best Batting Average Chieh-Hsien Chen B-AVE .632 Pitcher with Best ERA Rich Hill 0.00 ERA Pitcher with Best Win/Loss Average Haruto Inoue 3W – 0L Most Runs Batted In Matt Shaw 14 RBI Home Run King Ryan Ward 5 HR Most Stolen Bases Chandler Simpson 9 SB Most Runs Scored Shōta Morishita 13 Runs Outstanding Defensive Player Chieh-Hsien Chen 0 ERR

Sponsors

2024 WBSC Premier12 had 36 sponsors, including 6 global sponsors.^[17]

Sponsors of the 2024 WBSC Premier12[17]
Global Sponsors Konami RAXUS[18] Kowa Nippon Express Daiso Kao Corporation
Super/Final Round Sponsors Coca-Cola MUFG Bank[19][20] Yomiuri Shimbun Lawson Japan Airlines Fanatics
Group A Sponsors Mega Red Cola
Group B Sponsors CTBC Taiwan Sports Lottery Family Mart Eva Air Barista Coffee TransGlobe Life Insurance Chunghwa Telecom GFC, Ltd. Capital Motors, Inc. 1664 J&G Fried Chicken Kinmen Kaoliang Liquor CPC Corporation Taiwan Select Hotel Episode Uni-president New Balance Domino's Burger King

See also

• List of sporting events in Taiwan