Team USA is in danger of not advancing to the World Baseball Classic quarterfinals after an 8-6 loss to Italy in pool play on Tuesday night at Daikin Park in Houston. But USA manager Mark DeRosa appeared to be unaware of that earlier on Tuesday during an appearance on MLB Network, where he serves as an analyst when not having USA managing duties.
While speaking with Matt Vasgersian and Harold Reynolds on MLB Network’s Hot Stove, DeRosa said that the USA’s “ticket’s punched to the quarterfinals.” That wasn’t true when he said it, and it remains false after the USA’s loss on Tuesday night.
It also seemed to influence DeRosa’s thinking on resting some key players.
Cal Raleigh, Bryce Harper, Alex Bregman, and Brice Turang were among the USA players to not start. And Ryan Yarbrough, who had a 4.36 ERA with the New York Yankees last season, followed starting pitcher Nolan McLean (3 innings) to throw 2 1/3 innings out of the bullpen. There didn’t seem to be a sense of urgency in what was a very important game.
“It’s weird. We want to win this game, even though our ticket’s punched to the quarterfinals.”
That was Team USA manager Mark DeRosa before the loss to Italy.
Team USA has *not* advanced to the quarterfinals and could very well be left out. #WBC pic.twitter.com/4ljCJ38qA9
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 11, 2026
“I’m going to get some guys off their feet, no question about it,” DeRosa said. “I’d like to get [Paul Goldschmidt] a start. He has been awesome; just a leader of men behind the scenes with Aaron Judge. I’d like to get him in there. I’d like to get Gunnar (Henderson) in there again.”
“Ton of respect for Italy,” DeRosa continued. “It’s weird. We want to win this game, even though our ticket’s punched to the quarterfinals. Because Mexico plays Italy, actually, tomorrow. The way the schedule lines up, this is an important game for us.”
That sounds like the kind of coachspeak you hear from an NFL head coach ahead of a Week 18 game with no postseason implications. But this game really did have big implications for the USA, and it’s entirely possible they don’t get to move on to the quarterfinals now.
The USA now needs to root for Italy to beat Mexico on Wednesday night, or else it comes down to tiebreaker scenarios.
Scenarios for Italy vs Mexico tomorrow assuming it’s nine innings:
Italy wins: Italy + USA advance
Mexico wins and scores 6 or more runs: Mexico + USA advance
Mexico wins and scores less than 5 runs: Mexico + Italy advance
—
Mexico wins and scores exactly 5 runs: Mexico…
— Gordo (@BOSSportsGordo) March 11, 2026
The star-studded USA squad was an enormous favorite on Tuesday night and had been the WBC tournament favorite in general, but now the team is left depending on help from an Italy-Mexico game that is televised on Tubi on Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET (Update: Fox has moved the Italy-Mexico game to FS1).
Tomorrow, the eyes of the country will be on… Tubi https://t.co/l4edAORpmT pic.twitter.com/lJX2VIZNKT
— Sports TV News & Updates (@TVSportsUpdates) March 11, 2026
It would have probably helped if Team USA’s manager knew that it was a highly meaningful game.
Update: After the game, DeRosa was asked about his comments on MLB Network. DeRosa claimed that he “misspoke” and “completely misread the calculations.”
Would have loved a follow up here. Pitching plan was with knowing? pic.twitter.com/FU0ElS2ecy
— Jomboy (@Jomboy_) March 11, 2026
“Yeah, I misspoke,” DeRosa said. “I was on Hot Stove with a couple of buddies today and completely misread the calculations. We knew that Mexico was going to play Italy. And then running all the numbers if we lost tonight with the runs allowed and runs scored, and outs. So, I just misspoke.”
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.