Team USA Escapes Embarrassment, Advances to Knockout Round of the World Baseball Classic

Illustration by Jenna Tibby

Following Team USA’s 5-3 victory over Mexico — its first win against Mexico since 2006 — things almost went very badly for the so-called “superteam.” However, it was Italy, which pushed the USA to the brink of elimination in the first place, that came through with an 8-1 victory over Mexico to push themselves and Team USA on to the next round.

The first sign of danger for the USA squad was when manager Mark DeRosa went on MLB Network the morning before their matchup with Italy and said, “It’s weird, we want to win this game even though our ticket’s punched to the quarterfinals.” Shockingly, Team USA had not actually secured a spot in the quarterfinals at this point.

A loss to Italy would have put them in a tiebreaker scenario where their fate depended on the next day’s Mexico-Italy matchup. Fans were quick to point out that DeRosa has no managerial experience, only time as an MLB player. Ironically, his post-playing career has included work with the very same MLB Network as a TV analyst, calling his qualifications into question.

Still, at least he had said they wanted to win the game regardless. However, the reality of this came into question as DeRosa began to elaborate. He told MLB Network that he was “gonna get some guys off their feet,” and mentioned that he wanted to get some bench players into the game.

The cherry on top of this “sundae of managerial failure” came later that day during the pre-game interviews. DeRosa alluded to players celebrating late into the night after the win over Mexico and admitted that “There’s some guys dragging today.”

The game’s lineup did not feature Cal Raleigh, Alex Bregman or Bryce Harper. One starter was Paul Goldschmidt, 37, who only hit 10 home runs with a .731 OPS last year. They were shut out for 4.2 innings by Michael Lorenzen, who had a 4.64 ERA with the Kansas City Royals last season.

In the eighth inning, after Team USA had already sliced Italy’s 8-0 lead to 8-4, DeRosa instructed Clayton Kershaw to warm up in the bullpen. Ten, five or even two years ago, this would make perfect sense, but this is not the same Kershaw. He retired following the 2025 MLB season, when he already had a reduced role in the Los Angeles Dodgers rotation.

It was accepted that Kershaw was only on Team USA’s roster as the last option in the bullpen, not a high-leverage reliever. Preparing to pitch him here, after they finally started to claw back into the game, was yet another questionable decision from DeRosa.

It was at this point that DeRosa finally seemed to realize that elimination was still a possibility for Team USA. Kershaw was mysteriously pulled from his warmups and replaced with Mason Miller, who pitched a scoreless inning to keep hopes alive.

With all due respect to the future Hall of Famer, the gap in talent between Kershaw and Miller at this point is significant. Miller led MLB with 15 strikeouts per nine innings, garnered a huge trade package from the San Diego Padres at last year’s trade deadline, and is seen as one of the top relievers in baseball. Did someone tip DeRosa off about the stakes of this game?

Team USA continued to rally, cutting the lead to 8-6. Boston Red Sox pitcher Greg Weissert entered the game with one out to face the top of the lineup. Bobby Witt Jr. singled to bring the tying run to the plate, but Gunnar Henderson struck out.

With two outs, the game was now in the hands of the best hitter in the world, Aaron Judge. In a 1-2 count, Weissert threw a filthy sinker down and in on Judge. Judge swung, but could not make contact. Game over. Team USA no longer controlled its own fate, but it was not yet eliminated.

Convoluted tiebreakers are a longstanding tradition in sports, and the WBC is no exception. If Italy beat Mexico in their next game, Team USA would simply advance, no questions asked.

However, if Mexico had won, the three teams would have been tied at 3-1. Mexico would’ve advanced, and the Italy-USA tie would have been broken by run differential. Therefore, if Italy had lost but allowed four or fewer runs, Italy and Mexico would have advanced, eliminating the USA.

Fortunately for Team USA, and especially DeRosa, Italy used their dugout espresso shots as the fuel to power a 9-1 win over Mexico. Vinnie Pasquantino hit three home runs and delivered an incredible post-game interview with Fox Sports, starting off saying, “I’m caffeinated, I’m beaned up right now,” before dropping a “you’re welcome, USA,” deservedly taking the credit for saving Team USA from the embarrassment of being the most talented team to miss the knockout round in WBC history.

It was great news, but it was still alarming that it even got that close to disaster. This never should have happened to such an incredibly skilled squad, and it begs the question of why Team USA couldn't find a manager with previous experience.

It also raises the question of whether Team USA shares the same pride in representing their country as players from Japan, the Dominican Republic, and South Korea. Dodgers utility player Enrique Hernández, of Team Puerto Rico, said in a pregame interview, “I’ve played in five World Series, and I don’t know if it’s because of what’s across my chest, but the Classic feels above that.”

Considering everything, it’s hard to imagine anyone on Team USA sharing that sentiment. Tarik Skubal, one of the top two pitchers in the world, pitched only three innings against Great Britain in his only appearance for Team USA. He then departed the team and headed to Detroit Tigers training camp, preparing for the 2026 MLB season, where he will play for the chance to earn a contract projected to be over $350 million. This significantly weakens the USA’s pitching for the knockout round.

If they do advance, Team Dominican Republic looms as the biggest threat, with an incredible lineup including Juan Soto and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. The Dominican Republic’s round one opponent, South Korea, is a tough challenge as well.

On the opposite side of the bracket, Japan stands tall, led by Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

However, single-game elimination and baseball go together about as well as water and oil, so anything can happen in this tournament. Italy has already shown it can hang with the big names, while Venezuela and Puerto Rico both have plenty of MLB veterans and young talents that can make some noise as well. Before they can worry about any of that though, Team USA has another matchup with Team Canada on Friday.