Mistake, miscue or misspeak? Did the Team USA head coach think they had already earned a spot in the quarterfinals or was it just a slip of tongue?
Mark DeRosa, Team USA manager, before loss to Italy: “We want to win this game even though our ticket’s punched to the quarterfinals”
Only DeRosa knows for sure if he really knew how important last night’s game was against Italy. Hindsight is 20/20 and most USA baseball fans were pretty confident that whoever DeRosa put in the lineup would be enough to get the W against Italy. Actually, it seemed pretty smart to give some guys a rest and play Gunnar Henderson at 3B and Paul Goldschmidt at 1B. Alex Bregman and Bryce Harper deserved a night off, right?
If the WBC was travel ball…
— Aaron Cunningham 🇺🇸 (@HPBAac) March 11, 2026
Team USA is about to miss bracket play. Bryce Harper’s dad and Alex Bregman’s dads are in the parking lot forming a new team since their kids are on the bench tonight.
Maybe not. But, again, who knows what would have happened if DeRosa had kept his top players in the lineup. Bryce Harper had already made it clear that the WBC was OK and everything, but the Olympics was the world stage he wanted to be on. Besides, Bregman was hitting .143 and Harper .200. We can blame the coach, who may or may not have known how important the game was, but, in the end, the players have to be ready.
This can’t be real. https://t.co/96HGy0aD9r
— Kyle Porter (@KylePorterNS) March 11, 2026
Were the players ready?
DeRosa might have misspoke about already getting a place in quarterfinals, but he sounded pretty serious when discussing the players’ condition after celebrating their win against Mexico. “There were some guys dragging today,” DeRosa said about the team’s celebration at the hotel.
“There’s some guys dragging today,” Team USA manager Mark DeRosa said after his coaching staff and players stayed up telling stories and celebrating after the 5-3 victory over Mexico.
— Jose de Jesus Ortiz (@OrtizKicks) March 11, 2026
The team bus didn’t leave Daikin Park until 12:30 a.m.
Italy leads 5-0.#WorldBaseballClassic pic.twitter.com/HzvEIAhcFR
The fact is that Italy wanted it more, they were ready to beat Team USA, and they got the job done. Now DeRosa and his players have to hope that Italy beats Mexico or that Mexico allows six runs or more or Italy gives up 5 runs or more. It would be a huge disappointment for this incredible team not to make it out of the group stage, but Team Italy is undefeated and their players have proven they belong and they’re capable of beating the best. Let’s hope they can manage to outscore Mexico tonight.
“Misspoke” and “misread the calculations” are VERY different.
— Phillies Baseball Talk (@FightinsTalk) March 11, 2026
Lineup and pitchers used suggest he went into the game thinking they clinched.
Was 100% notified of the rules when Kershaw was warming in the 8th and Mason Miller suddenly appeared instead.pic.twitter.com/uOOYerO5OA
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