Two former Alabama prep standouts are taking a break from the Chicago White Sox’s spring-training work to play for the United States in the World Baseball Classic.

Shortstop Tim Anderson and reliever Kendall Graveman are among the big-leaguers on the roster for the United States, which opens tournament play at 8 p.m. CST Saturday at Chase Field in Phoenix. FOX will televise the game.

Anderson played at Hillcrest High School in Tuscaloosa, and Graveman played at Benjamin Russell High School in Alexander City.

Alexander is preparing for his eighth MLB season with the White Sox. He has been an American League All-Star selection in each of the previous two seasons. Over the past four seasons, Anderson’s .318 batting average is the highest in the Majors for any player with at least 1,000 at-bats.

“For me to be able to hop in and catch it during this part of my career, it’s only right that I play for Team USA and do something cool,” Anderson said. “Not a lot of people get to do that. And it’s even better: I got a USA jersey, so that’s dope.”

Graveman is preparing for his ninth MLB season, his second with the White Sox and his third since Tommy John surgery caused him to sit out the entire 2019 campaign.

A starting pitcher before his elbow injury, Graveman has made his past 127 appearances from the bullpen. In those games, he has a 2.61 earned-run average and 132 strikeouts in 131 innings.

“It’s an honor,” Graveman said. “I’m humbled, honestly, by the thought that they would even mention me in the same category as some of those guys. It’s emotional to be able to represent this country, to be able to put on their jersey. It’s going to be fun. I’m going to go compete alongside some of those guys that I’ve competed against in the big leagues for a long time.”

The World Baseball Classic features 20 teams playing in four divisions. The United States is in Pool C with Canada, Colombia, Great Britain and Mexico.

After Saturday’s game against Great Britain, the United States faces Mexico at 9 p.m. CDT Sunday, Canada at 9 p.m. Monday and Colombia at 9 p.m. Wednesday in pool play. FS1 will televise the three games.

Josh Palacios already has started play in the World Baseball Classic. An Auburn outfielder in 2016, Palacios is playing for the Netherlands.

The Netherlands has won its first two games in Pool A, beating Cuba 4-2 on Tuesday and Panama 3-1 on Wednesday at Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium in Taichung, Taiwan.

Palacios played right field in the two games for the Netherlands, which faces Chinese Taipei at 5 a.m. CST Saturday and Italy at 6 a.m. CDT Sunday. FS2 will televise the games.

Palacios is in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ system. Last season, he played in 29 games with the Washington Nationals while hitting .298 with 19 stolen bases in 76 games with the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.