Team Japan had one of their fellow players with them in spirit during their World Baseball Classic win in Miami on Tuesday night.
Japan beat Team USA 3-2 in the championship game. They had a Team Japan jersey with number 51 and the name “Suzuki” on the back hanging in their dugout.
After Shohei Ohtani struck out Mike Trout to win the game 3-2, Japan brought out the Suzuki jersey to celebrate.
https://twitter.com/MLBONFOX/status/1638373009311318016
Though many people thought the jersey represented Ichiro Suzuki, who wore No. 51 during his MLB career, it was actually for Seiya Suzuki.
Seiya Suzuki made his MLB debut for the Chicago Cubs last season and is a member of Japan’s national baseball team. He was set to participate in the World Baseball Classic but had to withdraw due to an oblique injury suffered in late February.
Japan had been raising jerseys for Seiya and Ryoji Kuribayashi, another injured player, during the event.
Samurai Japan hung Seiya Suzuki and Ryoji Kuribayashi jerseys in their dugout in honor of their injured teammates.
Coincidently, both Hiroshima Carp. pic.twitter.com/UtKt7R1brt
— Yakyu Cosmopolitan (@yakyucosmo) March 17, 2023
Suzuki batted .262 with 14 home runs and a .769 OPS last season for the Cubs.
