Thanks to Italy’s win over Mexico on Wednesday, USA escaped pool play and will face Canada in the World Baseball Classic quarterfinals Friday night at Daikin Park in Houston. USA lost to Italy on Tuesday and, before that game, manager Mark DeRosa seemed convinced his club had already clinched a spot in the quarterfinals, which they most certainly had not.
“We want to win this game, even though our ticket’s punched to the quarterfinals,” DeRosa said on MLB Network’s “Hot Stove” before the Italy game. “I’m going to get some guys off their feet, no question about it.”
Following USA’s shocking loss to Italy, DeRosa said he “misspoke” and “completely misread the calculations” when asked about his comments. On Thursday, DeRosa was asked about his comments again. This time, he chalked them up to being “overly confident” and said there are “false narratives” about the team’s level of urgency against Italy.
“Yeah, it’s just an overly confident statement on ‘Hot Stove.’ Period, the end. And it’s my fault. I felt good about where we were after [beating] Mexico,” DeRosa said. “… We did not lose sight of the fact that we had to go out and play well against Italy. They played a hell of a game. They smacked us in the mouth early. They got up big. We went into that game prepared to win it. I think there’s a couple false narratives out there.
“But, no, I was well aware that we had to win that game based on all the scenarios that could take place. I mean, they went in 2-0. We went in 3-0. And we knew they were playing Mexico the next day. We knew there was tiebreaker rules involved. So I can understand the questions about lineup and pitching situations. We were up against a lot of guardrails with regards to teams, the deployment of certain relievers, how many pitches they can use, whether they can go back out, whether they can clean up innings. And you’re just trying to piece it together in real time.”
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One of two things happened. Either DeRosa didn’t know USA hadn’t clinched a spot going into the Italy game, or he knew they didn’t clinch and managed the game like a Sunday afternoon getaway day. Neither of those things is good. Ultimately, though, it does not matter. USA has advanced and still has a chance to win the WBC.
DeRosa believes the loss will serve as a wake-up call.
“New lease on life for the boys, certainly,” DeRosa said Thursday. “I put ourselves in a tough spot. Tip our hat to Vinnie Pasquantino and Italy, truly. Went into that game a little overly confident and got a huge wake-up call. And we turned the page and go to Canada. Bottom line, the guys are fired up to be in that room and get rolling.”
Despite the messy end to pool play, USA is a very dangerous team moving forward. They have Logan Webb lined up to start Friday against Canada, and, if they advance to the semifinals, Paul Skenes will start. Win the Webb and Skenes games, and you’re in the Championship Game, when anything can happen. A roster with as much talent as USA’s shouldn’t be taken lightly.
Webb and USA will face Mike Soroka and Canada in the quarterfinals Friday. Canada won a double-elimination game against Cuba on Thursday to advance out of pool play for the first time in the WBC.
