Japan outfielder Seiya Suzuki of the Chicago Cubs has withdrawn from the March 8-21 World Baseball Classic, Nippon Professional Baseball said Tuesday.
The 28-year-old missed the Cubs' spring training game with the San Francisco Giants on Saturday due to tightness in his left oblique and also the club's training on Sunday before undergoing a thorough examination.
Suzuki, part of Samurai Japan's 2017 WBC roster, batted cleanup at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 as the host country won the gold medal. The all-round former Hiroshima Carp player was expected to be one of the key members for Japan skipper Hideki Kuriyama next month.
His absence is a blow for the manager, who had been keeping a tab on Suzuki as one Japan's handful of right-handed sluggers, alongside Hotaka Yamakawa of the Seibu Lions and Kazuma Okamoto of the Yomiuri Giants.
The strong-armed Suzuki's absence also leaves a hole to fill in the outfield, as moving Lars Nootbaar to right field will leave center field short-handed.
Hanshin Tigers outfielder Koji Chikamoto is being floated as a potential replacement.
Related coverage:
World Baseball Classic Japan player profiles
Baseball: 3 WBC-bound Japan outfielders enter MLB spring training
Baseball: Samurai Japan opens its WBC training camp with a bang
