The Philippine Amateur Baseball Association (PABA) is in search of the best players available for the national team for the 20th Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan in October.

PABA secretary general Michael Asuncion said the roster is bannered by veteran players Romeo Jasmin and Mark Beronilla and beefing up the squad with more skilled players is needed as they take on the top three countries in Asia, namely South Korea, Chinese Taipei and the Japanese, the host of this year’s Asiad.

“It’s intact, but we also have a schedule for tryouts because we constantly need to update our lineup. We don’t want anyone to be complacent in the team,” Asuncion said.

“There’s always somebody who wants to get your position so everybody has to earn it, even the coaches. Our coaches are also like that. We constantly review the lineup of coaches.”

Asuncion said they want to see the country to consistently compete against the best squads in Asia as they look to improve from their fifth-place finish in the 19th Hangzhou Asian Games in China in 2023.

“The number one in the world is Japan. China and Korea are not far from each other. That’s the big three of Asia,” Asuncion said.

“Now, we’re head-to-head with China in fourth and fifth”

The Philippines look to ride from its momentum in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games in Thailand last December where it won the gold medal.

National team coach Orlando Binarao said they can’t afford to stay complacent while other countries are closely monitoring them.

“The PABA officials want us to compete in tournaments in Japan and in Taipei for exposure before the Asian Games,” Binarao said.

“Since we won the gold medal in the SEA Games, our rivals expect us to step up.”