Cubs, 'WBC Team' Playing In Mesa March 15

This was done without much -- actually, without any -- fanfare, but the Cubs, as you can see on this spring-training schedule, will be facing a "WBC Opponent" at HoHoKam Park in Mesa Friday, March 15. The game's set for 1:05 Arizona time, or 3:05 p.m. CDT.

It'll be a split-squad game; the other half of the team will be facing the White Sox at Camelback Ranch in Glendale that afternoon. That game starts an hour earlier, 12:05 in Arizona, or 2:05 p.m. CDT.

Which team will it be? No one knows yet; it will likely be determined by the results of the World Baseball Classic first-round games, which conclude March 10.

We can make an educated guess, based on the WBC schedule. It doesn't seem likely that this opponent would come from "Pool C" or "Pool D", since the winners of those pools have to go to Miami, Florida to play Round 2 games from March 12-16.

So we're probably looking at one of the teams from "Pool A" or "Pool B", the winners of those have several days off before the final round in San Francisco and would be looking for a tune-up game before they finish the tournament.

More details, as always, when they are available. Tickets for this game aren't on sale yet, either. I've added this game to the BCB Cubs spring-training schedule.