The World Baseball Classic gave us another game that lived up to the title of the tournament on Sunday, with the United States taking down the Dominican Republic in a narrow 2-1 nailbiter. It had some incredible moments — both on offense with Junior Caminero, Gunnar Henderson, and Roman Anthony all going deep, and on defense with Aaron Judge firing a laser to throw out Fernando Tatís Jr. at third earlier in the game. It also had its fair share of controversy, namely the final pitch that Mason Miller
threw to Geraldo Perdomo to end the game, a called strike that looked well below the zone to… just about everyone else except the home umpire.
Regardless, the US is now in their third straight championship game after winning in 2017 and falling in 2023, and they’ll face either Venezuela or Italy after the former upset Japan and the latter outlasted Puerto Rico. With one tournament favorite dropping out early and another bested by their own hands, it’d be fair to say that the US is now the heavy favorites to win it all. It’s far from a slam dunk, however.
The Italians are responsible for the Americans’ lone loss this tournament, jumping out to an 8-0 lead before the US clawed back enough runs to make it a contest late and bring Aaron Judge up to the plate as the tying run. Unfortunately for them, the Captain couldn’t get the job done in that moment, striking out to end the game. There was controversy over that game as well — US manager Mark DeRosa apparently didn’t realize they hadn’t clinched a quarterfinal spot yet and rested a couple starters before the massive deficit came in and they needed to close the gap to survive a potential tiebreaker had Mexico beaten Italy. Still, even with the lesser lineup Italy jumped all over Nolan McLean… who is scheduled to start the championship game. Would more of the same follow should Italy advance, or would it be a revenge game for the Mets youngster.
There’s another team the US could face, of course. Venezuela can boast a lineup filled with MLB talent, lead by Ronald Acuña Jr. and supplemented by names like Gleyber Torres, Eugenio Suárez, Luis Arraez, Willson Contreras, and Wilyer Abreu. They handled Yoshinobu Yamamoto and then feasted on Japan’s bullpen, and could certainly do the same against the United States should they advance. The US was one of the tournament favorites entering the month, and their position in the title game has only validated that, but how worried should they be about facing one of these two teams with it all on the line? Do they have it in the bag, or will you be watching every inning waiting to see if another upset emerges?
On the site today, John leads off with the latest edition of the Making the Team Meter, working through the roster cuts and competitions as we get closer and closer to Opening Day. Then, Nick previews Spencer Jones and his chances of making the big leagues this year, Jonathan reminisces on Curtis Granderson’s time in the Bronx on his birthday, and Jeff looks at how the Mariners stack up as they look to defend their newfound AL West title. Later on, I’ll be back to open up the mailbag for more of your questions.
Today’s Matchup
Off-day
