Team USA manager Mark DeRosa has fired back at his critics after he came under fire for displaying a lack of knowledge of the fundamentals of the World Baseball Classic.
Speaking before the Americans’ unthinkable 8-6 loss to Team Italy in Houston on Tuesday, DeRosa made an extremely erroneous statement about his team’s standing.
DeRosa claimed that Team USA had already punched its ticket to the quarterfinals. His statement couldn’t have been further from the truth.
Not only had the Americans not qualified for the knockout stages before facing Italy but their subsequent comedy of errors on Tuesday night left them relying on the Italians to beat Mexico the following night.
However, the USA manager has now called out ‘false narratives’ as he insisted that, despite his comment, he was aware that the Americans’ WBC hopes were in jeopardy.
‘We went into that game prepared to win it. I think there are a couple false narratives out there, but, no, I was well aware we had to win that game besides all the scenarios that could take place. They went in 2-0, we went in 2-0, we knew they were playing Mexico the next day,’ DeRosa said on Thursday ahead of Friday’s quarterfinal game against Canada.
Team USA manager Mark DeRosa has fired back at ‘false narratives’ at the WBC
DeRosa erroneously claimed that Team USA had already punched its ticket to the knockouts
‘We knew there were tiebreakers involved. I can understand the questions about lineup and pitching situations we are up against.
‘A lot of guardrails with regard 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. You’re just trying to piece it together in real time.’
Despite his insistence that he was aware of the tiebreaker scenarios, earlier in the week DeRosa had shared a different outlook. He described the game to MLB Network as something of an afterthought.
‘Ton of respect for Italy – it’s weird – we want to win this game even though our ticket’s punched to the quarterfinals because Mexico plays Italy actually tomorrow,’ DeRosa told MLB Network hours before the sloppy upset defeat.
DeRosa’s erroneous take sparked backlash from fans and he later attempted to defuse the situation by claiming that he ‘misspoke.’
‘I was on “Hot Stove” with a couple of buddies today and completely misread the calculations,’ he said following the game.
Aaron Judge reacts after striking out to end Tuesday’s game, an 8-6 upset win for Team Italy
Italy eventually helped Team USA punch its ticket to the knockout stages on Wednesday
‘We knew Mexico was going to play Italy and running all the numbers with if we lost tonight with the runs allowed and runs scored and outs. So, I just misspoke.’
Thankfully for DeRosa and the Americans, the Italians did help them officially punch their ticket to the quarterfinals on Wednesday night.
With the fate of DeRosa’s players resting in the hands of the very team that humiliated them just one day earlier, the Italians handed them a lifeline and helped send them through to the quarterfinals.
As Italy sealed a commanding 9-1 win over Mexico, the Americans, who boast one of the most star-packed WBC rosters in years, snuck through and narrowly avoided embarrassment.
