The United States is in a prime position to win the 2026 World Baseball Classic. On Tuesday, they will face either Venezuela or Italy in the title game after defeating the Dominican Republic in the semifinals on Sunday.
As Team USA manager Mark DeRosa prepares for the big game, he has time to reflect upon the error of his ways. Most notably, he allegedly misstated that the United States was already in the quarterfinals before playing against Italy. A game in which the Americans were upset by Italy, 8-6.
At first, DeRosa said it was a false narrative. Nevertheless, DeRosa had to explain the context of his remarks.
On Monday, he explained himself further during his appearance on the Pat McAfee Show.
“I completely misspoke, and there's no question about it,” DeRosa said. “I put the cart before the horse going into the Italy game, but we rallied after that”.
"I completely misspoke and there's no question about it..
I put the cart before the horse going into the Italy game but we rallied after that" ~ @markdero7 #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/QVttjfXswV
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) March 16, 2026
The Americans are now competing in their third consecutive World Baseball Classic title game. In 2017, they won the title after defeating Puerto Rico, only to lose to Japan in the title game in 2023.
Going into the World Baseball Classic, the Americans were considered the hands-down favorite. That was in large part due to their roster, which included Aaron Judge, Pete Crow-Armstrong, and Cal Raleigh, to name a few.
In 2023, DeRosa was the manager for Team USA. Overall, DeRosa doesn't have much managerial experience. He played in MLB for 16 seasons for various teams. After retiring in 2013, he became an analyst for MLB Network.
