Two Red Sox pitchers are on the
MLB squad that will compete against players from
Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) in the upcoming Japan All-Star Series. Both
Brian Johnson and
Hector Velazquez will pitch for the
MLB team—which will play seven games all across Japan from November 8-15. Four 2018 All-Stars (
Mitch Haniger,
J.T. Realmuto,
Yadier Molina,
Eugenio Suarez) and the top two contenders for NL Rookie of the Year (
Juan Soto,
Ronald Acuna Jr.) will also play for the
MLB team. Managing the
MLB squad will be
Don Mattingly—and his coaches will include:
Edgar Martinez,
Hideki Matsui,
Fredi Gonzalez,
Hensley Meulens,
Brent Strom and
Henry Blanco. The series will be played in Tokyo, Hiroshima and Nagoya—with
most of the games televised in the United States on
MLB Network. So, there is baseball after the World Series! By the way, we don't know about you, but
our favorite Japanese baseball venue has got to be Hiroshima's
Mazda Zoom Zoom Stadium—which will host a November 13th game.
Play (November) Ball!
