Royals have 10 players slated for World Baseball Classic. Here’s how the schedule works

After a couple weeks of spring training, several Royals players will step away from the club to compete for their national teams in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

Key Royals players representing their national team include Salvador Perez for Venezuela and Bobby Witt Jr. and Brady Singer for Team USA. Ten Royals players representing six countries will compete in the tournament.

The players remain with the Royals for now and will likely see the field for several spring training games before the first team arrival date on March 3, when pitcher Ronald Bolaños for Cuba and infielders Nicky Lopez and Vinnie Pasquantino for Italy will report to Taichung, Taiwan, to begin workouts for their group.

The opportunity to represent their country is one the players embrace.

“It’s just family ties,” Pasquantino said. “It’s where my family’s from and it’s cool to be able to represent that.”

Singer feels the same way.

“It means a lot, wearing those colors across my chest,” he said. “Being a part of a team like that is just really, really special. It’s something I couldn’t turn down and I can’t wait to do.”

Singer made it clear that after getting the offer, there was no hesitation — calling it an “automatic yes.”

The tournament provides players the rare opportunity to team up with superstars they normally compete against on the field. The setup is neither awkward nor difficult, Singer said.

“I think once we get together, we’re all on one team,” he said. “When we’re wearing our colors and USA across our chests, we all come together as one,”

Because of the timing of the classic, players are forced to get a head start on their ramp-up to the season, having to prepare for the competition in early March.

Royals fans will also get to see their players compete against one another in the group round, with MJ Melendez’s Puerto Rico team competing against Venezuela, which features Perez, Carlos Hernandez and Max Castillo. Italy with Lopez and Pasquantino will face Bolaños’ Team Cuba.

Witt Jr. and Singer are fortunate their travel for the group stage consists of a short trip to Scottsdale, Arizona, for Team USA workouts. After a day of team workouts, the clubs in Team USA’s group will play a pair of exhibition matches against major league clubs on March 8 and 9.

Among those games, the Royals will play against Great Britain’s national team at Surprise Stadium on March 9. Team USA will play its exhibition games against the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Angels.

Similar exhibition games exist in all groups, with the national teams in Florida facing off against various Grapefruit League clubs, and the groups in Taiwan and Japan facing off against yet to be announced “local teams,” which will likely be Chinese Professional Baseball League and Nippon Professional Baseball clubs, respectively.

The World Baseball Classic will conclude after the championship in Miami on March 21, a week out from the conclusion of spring training and nine days away from the Royals’ season opener against the Minnesota Twins on March 30.