Yuki Matsui (groin) was ruled out of the World Baseball Classic and his status for Opening Day is “in question.”

Yumeto Kanemaru will take Matsui’s place on Japan’s WBC roster. Matsui told reporters he is continuing a build-up, but hasn’t yet progressed to throwing off a mound. It sounds like he might have an early-season IL stint if he can’t progress to throwing off a mound in the near future.