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Jose Altuve and Ryan Pressly are World Series-winning teammates on the Houston Astros. Before they embark on their 2023 title defense, though, they'll be rivals.
Altuve is poised to represent his home country of Venezuela in the 2023 World Baseball Classic while Pressly will pitch for Team USA. If they match up, Altuve is already planning on getting a hit off his teammate.
He said:
“It’ll be fun. Looking forward to it. We obviously have a great relationship, good chemistry, but I think if he pitches to me again I’ll hit him.”
Altuve has been the leader of the Astros for a long time, and that is also true of Team Venezuela. The United States boasts a deep roster, but don't count out Team Venezuela as they already have one player with a little extra motivation.
Pressly will pitch in relief, so the odds that he will get to face Altuve aren't all that great. Nevertheless, the prospect of that potential at-bat is exciting. It could be one of the most fun at-bats of the entire tournament.
The WBC, featuring Jose Altuve and Ryan Pressly as well as other Astros players, will begin on March 8 and conclude on March 21, shortly before the MLB regular season and the Astros' title defense begins.
What are the chances Jose Altuve, Ryan Pressly and the Houston Astros repeat?
Repeat champions are hard to come by in the MLB. No one has done it since the New York Yankees at the turn of the century. Two decades later, Jose Altuve, Ryan Pressly and the Houston Astros are looking to end that drought.
They have a very good chance of doing so. After most of the major offseason pieces have fallen into place, which includes the Astros losing Justin Verlander, the odds are good for that to happen.
In fact, they currently have slightly better odds than everyone — just ahead of the New York Yankees, New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers.
It's a long season and everything has to go well, but Altuve and Pressly could lead their team to their second consecutive World Series win.
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