Mark DeRosa Fires Back at WBC Critics While Still Making Silly Mistake

Mark DeRosa’s attempt at damage control went off the rails pretty quickly.

Team USA’s manager was asked about his very clear ignorance of the tiebreaker rules at the 2026 World Baseball Classic, and his response didn’t inspire confidence. On Tuesday, DeRosa was a guest on MLB Network’s Hot Stove and claimed the U.S. had punched its ticket to the quarterfinals after defeating Mexico 5-3 on Monday night. That was not the case, as a loss to Italy could set up a scenario where the Americans finished in a three-way tie atop Pool B and wound up eliminated. He also claimed the team had partied late into the night, and some guys were “dragging” the morning of the Italy game.

After Team USA lost to Italy 8-6 and faced a decent chance of being bounced from the tournament, DeRosa faced a lot of backlash for not knowing the rules of the tournament.

On Thursday, he tried to change that narrative and, well, kind of fell on his face.

“Yeah, it’s just an overly confident statement on Hot Stove. Period, the end. And it’s my fault,” DeRosa said. “Felt good about where we were after Mexico... I think there’s a couple false narratives out there but no, I was well aware that we had to win that game based on all the scenarios that could take place. I mean, they went in 2-0. We went in 2-0. We knew they were playing Mexico the next day. We knew there was tiebreaker rules involved.”

To clarify, Italy entered the game 2-0, while the U.S. was 3-0. So, yeah, DeRosa is flailing a bit right now.

His full remarks are below.

"I think there's a couple false narratives out there, but no, I was well aware that we had to win that game based on all the scenarios that could take place."

- Mark DeRosa pic.twitter.com/kxKBB2lNQ7
— SNY (@SNYtv) March 12, 2026

While it’s hindsight now, DeRosa’s decision-making with the team’s lineup doesn’t seem to line up with a guy who knew his team needed to beat Italy. He sat the lefty bats Bryce Harper and Brice Turang in favor of righties Paul Goldschmidt and Ernie Clement against Italian righty starter Michael Lorenzen. Goldschmidt slashed .247/.289/.329 against right-handers in 2025, while Turang has been one of Team USA’s most productive hitters, as he’s 5-for-12 with four doubles.

DeRosa also failed to make any lineup changes until the seventh inning despite Italy taking an 8-0 lead. What were those moves? Turang doubled for Clement in the seventh, and Harper replaced Goldschmidt in the eighth. In a tournament where run differential plays a huge role in seeding, Team USA’s manager waited far too long to make adjustments.

In the end, it didn’t matter. Italy blew out Mexico 9-1 to win Pool B, which allowed the Americans to advance as the runner-up in the group. Team USA was incredibly lucky that Italy stepped up and gave them that assist. The U.S. team was hyped as the best to ever enter the World Baseball Classic and getting knocked out in pool play would have been a huge black mark on the program.

Team USA will now face Pool A winner, Canada, in the quarterfinals on Friday. It will be a chance for DeRosa and his squad to get redemption after disappointing so far in the tournament.

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