Red Sox have become a global phenomenon in Classic ... and their teammates have noticed

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Take a morning stroll into the Red Sox’s clubhouse and flags dominate the temporarily vacated lockers for players participating in the World Baseball Classic.

In one corner, you have Team USA (Roman Anthony, Garrett Whitlock), Venezuela (Wilyer Abreu, Willson Contreras and Ranger Suarez), the Netherlands (Ceddanne Rafaela), Mexico (Jarren Duran) and Great Britain (Nate Eaton).

On the other side, there are flags representing Japan (Masataka Yoshida) and Chinese Taipei (Tsung-Che Cheng). Across the way, there is the Dominican Republic (Brayan Bello), Italy (Greg Weissert) and Puerto Rico (Jovani Moran).

While a dozen players from Major League camp are missing from Fort Myers, they aren't far from anyone’s mind. How can they be?

No team has been as prevalent at the WBC than the Red Sox, as their players continue to make highlight reels and influence outcomes due to their collective excellence at the plate, on the mound and in the field.

“We prepared them for the tournament,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “If you're going to give an MVP to an organization to prepare their guys and execute In the tournament, give it to us, because [our players] have been freaking amazing. All of them have been great.”

Never was this more on display than Monday. Bello started the Red Sox-centric day in the Classic with a dominant effort (five innings, one run, one hit, seven strikeouts) in the Dominican Republic's 10-1 rout over Israel.

By night, Anthony (three-run homer) and Duran (two homers, assist on a play that nailed Anthony at the plate) were going back and forth in USA's 5-3 win over Mexico, which that was saved by none other than Red Sox ace setup man Garrett Whitlock.

For Team Puerto Rico, lefty reliever Moran provided two scoreless innings in a 4-1 win over Cuba, improving his candidacy to be Boston’s second southpaw in the bullpen behind Aroldis Chapman.

“We’re doing well on the global stage right now,” said lefty Payton Tolle. “I think it’s cool to watch all these guys having this much success and being large parts of why their teams are winning. It’s really exciting and it’s like, whenever they get back, we're gonna be able to put this all together and take the best parts of some of these teams that are out there right now and have a good year.”

While Anthony’s three-run rocket that staked Team USA to a 5-0 lead over Duran’s Team Mexico squad was the signature moment of the night, Cora loved another play in that game that he looked at as a product of a player maximizing his time at Spring Training.

On a double into the right-field corner by Brice Turang, Duran quickly retrieved the ball and uncorked a perfect throw to second baseman Nick Gonzales, who promptly fired the ball home to nab Anthony at home plate, keeping the game’s first run off the board.

With the Red Sox, Duran is primarily a left fielder who spends some time in center. The way Mexico’s roster is configured, Duran is playing out of position in right field. You’d never know it. Two-time Gold Glover Abreu has also made a nice transition for Venezuela, moving from right to left.

“The one play that really I was very happy that it happened was Jarren cutting that ball in right field and making that throw,” said Cora. “We worked so hard with him, because we didn't want him, first, to look bad playing right field, and second, to get hurt playing right field. He cut off the ball and made a perfect throw to the cutoff guy. We worked so hard on that one, and he was able to execute.

“I remember when we first put him in right field [this spring], and he kind of bobbled the ball down the line [in drills], and he was upset. And he made some bad throws, because it’s a different angle, but then he got it right. And to show it in the game … that's what we're trying to do. We want to be a good defensive team. Wily has played great in left field, too. So we prepared."

In eight days, the Red Sox will have their whole squad back together, ready to prepare for what they hope to be a fulfilling season. As players filter back into camp between now and then, there will be memories to share. Eaton, who belted a leadoff homer against two-time Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal on Sunday night, was first to return on Tuesday afternoon.

“It’s fun to watch,” said Red Sox righty Kutter Crawford. “Especially when you’re seeing our guys do it. Whit got the save last night. Weissert got the save the other night. Duran’s letting the ball fly all over the yard. Roman with the three-run homer. Bello shoving yesterday. Rafaela doing his thing. Masa doing his thing.”

“It’s one of the highest levels out there,” Tolle said of the WBC. “And exciting, and I’m biased on who I want to win, but I like watching all the Sox have success.”