World Baseball Classic

FIRST ROUND, POOL C

When, where: Today-Monday at Marlins Park, Miami. Schedule: Today — Canada vs. Dominican Republic, 6 p.m.; Friday — Colombia vs. United States, 6 p.m.; Saturday — Colombia vs. Canada, noon; United States vs. Dominican Republic, 6:30 p.m.; Sunday — Dominican Republic vs. Colombia, 12:30 p.m.; Canada vs. United States, 7 p.m.; Monday — tie-breaker if necessary, 6 p.m. Tickets: Single-game and three-game country packs available at Worldbaseballclassic.com Meet the Teams

CANADA

Historical perspective: Haven’t advanced beyond the first round in three previous WBC tries. Their biggest moment was an 8-6 upset of the U.S. in 2006.

Notable players: Best hitter is Freddie Freeman, born in California to Canadian parents. They have Toronto OF Dalton Pompey and past-his-prime former batting champ Justin Morneau. Several other key players pulled out for various reasons

Buzz: Easy to see why Ernie Whitt’s club is a long shot, considering his most accomplished pitchers are Ryan Dempster, 39, and Eric Gagne, 41, both long retired.

COLOMBIA

Historical perspective: Gained a spot for its first WBC by defeating Panama in a qualifier.

Notable players: White Sox LHP Jose Quintana, Braves RHP Julio Teheran. Brothers Donovan and Jhonathan Solano, both former Marlins. Pitchers Tayron Guerrero and Greg Nappo, both in the Marlins organization.

Buzz: Quintana and Teheran are a pair or premier starters on a team with little major league pedigree, but pitch-limit rules will contain their roles.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Historical perspective: Became the first team to go undefeated in the WBC, winning all eight games en route to the 2013 title.

Notable players: 3B Manny Machado, 2B Robinson Cano, DH Nelson Cruz, RF Jose Bautista, 1B Carlos Santana, CF Starlin Marte, LF Gregory Polanco, C Welington Castillo, 3B Adrian Beltre; pitchers Dellin Betances, Johnny Cueto, Jeurys Familia, Carlos Martinez, Edinson Volquez (Marlins)

Buzz: Tony Pena returns as manager with plenty of firepower to match Japan’s back-to-back titles in the first two Classics.

UNITED STATES

Historical perspective: The U.S. has yet to medal (its best finish was fourth place in 2009) and is 10-10 overall in WBC play.

Notable players: Marlins OFs Giancarlo Stanton and Christian Yelich; 1B Paul Goldschmidt, C Buster Posey, 3B Nolan Arenado OF Andrew McCutchen, 1B Eric Hosmer (American Heritage-Plantation), 2B Daniel Murphy; pitchers Chris Archer, Marcus Stroman, Andrew Miller.

Buzz: There is potential to make a run at the title, but it would be stronger if Clayton Kershaw, Mike Trout, Kris Bryant, Bryce Harper and Max Scherzer were playing.