Team USA fell short in the championship game of the World Baseball Classic, losing to Venezuela by a 3-2 final score in a thriller. Venezuela now has its first WBC title, whereas Team USA has lost the last two times they have made it that far.
In the top of the ninth inning, Boston Red Sox pitcher Garrett Whitlock surrendered the go-ahead run. San Diego Padres closer Mason Miller was available, though manager Mark DeRosa chose not to go to him in that situation.
However, in a postgame interview with Bob Nightengale of USA Today, DeRosa revealed his odd reason for not using Miller.
“Honoring the Padres,” DeRosa told Nightengale. “Had we taken the lead, he was coming in, but I wasn’t going to bring him into a tied game.”
Mark DeRosa explains Mason Miller decision
Ultimately, this is up for debate. Some may argue that DeRosa didn’t have his priorities straight and wasn’t focused enough on winning the WBC.
On the other hand, perhaps the Padres did make a request for DeRosa to only use Miller in a certain situation. Either way, it’s a controversial decision. Perhaps the outcome could have been different if DeRosa had chosen to use Miller in that situation.
There is no guarantee that it would have worked out, but it is something that fans are going to debate for the next several days after the tournament. Ultimately, Team Venezuela earned their victory, but fans are going to have a lot of questions for DeRosa following Team USA’s late loss.
Team USA has been to the championship game in each of the last three tournaments. They won in 2017, but lost to Japan in 2023 and obviously fell short against Venezuela in 2026.
It was still an incredible run, especially considering that they had to replace several pitchers on the roster before the start of the quarterfinals. They still managed to take down Team Canada in the first round and win a thriller against the Dominican Republic in the semifinals.
Unfortunately, it just didn’t end on a positive note for the Americans, and now they are left to unpack a devastating loss in the championship game.
What’s next for Team USA
DeRosa has said that he hopes to return as manager of Team USA for the next World Baseball Classic. However, if he does return, that might be met with some harsh criticism from fans after the Miller decision.
One decision alone didn’t cost Team USA the win, but it was a crucial decision not to bring Miller into the game to try and bring home a WBC championship. It will certainly be interesting to see what happens with DeRosa going forward.
Team USA might want to go in a different direction for the next WBC, but there could be some tough decisions to make before the tournament happens again.
The Miller decision was certainly an interesting one. It may not have changed the outcome of the game, but he might have been DeRosa’s best option to keep the game tied.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Team USA Manager Mark DeRosa Explains Bizarre Pitching Decision appeared first on Heavy Sports.