5 notable players from Japan’s championship teams have decided to not play in this year’s WBC. The players are M’s pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma, Ranger pitcher Yu Darvish, Brewers outfielder Norichika Aoki, free agent pitcher Hiroki Kuroda and free agent outfielder Ichiro Suzuki. This a huge blow to the Japanese team but they will probably find new players that can fill the roles of these players. Japan has developed some great players and now a new crop of the players will be showcased this time around for the country.