SPORTSNET.CA
Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones will not play in the World Baseball Classic if the format — and Canadian venue — does not change ahead of 2013.
“There’s some serious problems with the WBC setup,” said Jones, who will skip the rest of the tournament. “I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. But I wouldn’t do it again under the current format. There’s way too many days off. This tournament could be over by now.”
Jones was injured as a member of Team USA in its second game of the tournament on March 8. The 36-year-old Jones was kept out of the lineup for the next five days, which was akin to torture for the Braves’ slugger.
“Just way too many days off,” he said. “We stayed in Toronto for a week and played three games. I don’t know if you ever stayed in Toronto, but it’s not exactly Las Vegas. To say that we were plucking our eyebrows out one at a time would be an understatement.”
Jones left the team to return home after aggravating the strained muscle in his right side during batting practice before Sunday’s game against the Netherlands in Miami.
“I’d much rather be around this [Braves] training staff and treat it aggressively and hopefully get back into some kind of action in two or three days.”
Jones, who also played in the inaugural WBC in 2006, went 0-for-10 with six strikeouts in three Pool C games.
The World Baseball Classic double-header between Puerto Rico and Team USA (All Regions) and Japan versus South Korea can be seen Tuesday night on Sportsnet (West excluded). First pitch flies at 7 p.m. ET.
