The Rundown: Team USA Advances to WBC Finals, Judge Says Crowd ‘Better Than World Series,’ Awaiting Suzuki Injury News
No matter how many times I’ve experienced it, I still can’t get over this March weather. It was in the low 70s yesterday, but now it’s 40 degrees colder and we’ve got snow on the ground again. On the first official day of Indiana high school baseball season, no less. Even though workouts started in July and ran through last week, teams can have their tryouts and/or first official practices as of today. Between that and the WBC racing toward its grand finale, I’m feeling really amped up.
But for as exciting as Team USA’s win over the Dominican Republic was, you could not get a stronger argument in favor of ABS. That’s been the case throughout the tournament, in large part because a lot of unfamiliar batteries create more cross-ups than usual. Between that and the pool-to-bracket format, the WBC feels a lot like travel ball. I’ve seen a lot of strikes lost when umps are thrown off by a catcher having to react to a pitch that was off-target.
Mason Miller‘s put-away slider didn’t miss its target, but it did miss the strike zone by a wide margin. With two outs and the tying run on third in the bottom of the 9th, Miller spun a full-count breaking ball that Geraldo Perdomo took for what should have been ball four. Except that, just like he did to Juan Soto an inning earlier, home plate ump Cory Blaser called strike three.
As noted by ESPN’s Paul “Hembo” Hembekides, the pitch was 3.6 inches from the bottom edge of the strike zone at just 1.25 feet off the ground. Across the entire 2025 season, there was not a single looking strikeout on a pitch with such extreme characteristics. It wasn’t too close to take, nor was it the sole reason the DR lost. Even so, I’d have preferred a less controversial conclusion.
I don’t know if it was just a YouTube TV thing, but I actually heard Joe Davis make this call — and others throughout the game — before I saw it happen. Having the audio just a few fractions of a second ahead was very disconcerting, though it’s still better than seeing it on the MLB app before it happens on TV. Not that I have a habit of following games that way.
Chalk it up to yet another quirk of a preseason tournament. Like how Mark DeRosa keeps shifting Pete Crow-Armstrong to left in order to accommodate Byron Buxton in center, which is something we dug into on Saturday. A lot of folks tried to rationalize it by saying PCA might be better with the funky corners in Houston, but last night’s game was in Miami. Either way, it makes no sense at all from a strategic perspective.
What’s the point in assembling the best possible roster and then hamstringing it with poor decisions? For those who might still be looking to defend DeRo’s deployment of Buxton, I’d argue that playing him in center over PCA isn’t even the most egregious gaffe. The right-handed-hitting Buxton came on as a defensive replacement for Roman Anthony in the bottom of the 8th in USA’s 5-3 win over Canada, which came after the lefty-batting Anthony faced southpaw Matt Wilkinson in the top of the inning.
If seniority is behind DeRosa’s decision-making, that should apply to the plate as well. It’s certainly not data, as Anthony’s 112 wRC+ in 98 plate appearances against lefties last season was 66 points below Buxton’s. For a guy who’s apparently bucking for an MLB managerial gig, there’s just no excuse for such a poor move. There may, however, be an explanation for the defensive shifts.
X user The WARmonger shared last night that they have heard from multiple sources that the Twins and USA Baseball have an agreement that Buxton will only play center field or DH. I find that dumb as hell, but it makes sense. Little gripes aside — like Nico Hoerner not being the second baseman — the tournament has been incredibly exciting from a fan perspective. The players feel the same way.
“The World Series I was in versus the crowd here and the one we had against Mexico,” Aaron Judge said after the win, “it’s bigger and better than the World Series.”
That tracks closely with what Julio Rodríguez, who robbed Judge of a homer in the top of the 5th, said about winning a WBC title being more important than winning a World Series. A lot of that comes from the immediacy of the moment, but it’s undeniable that there’s a different kind of energy in these games. Whether it’s using Moka pots as noisemakers or the coordinated cheers for Seiya Suzuki, replacing most of the corporate sponsors and detached celebrities with actual fans makes a difference.
Suzuki’s Knee
Speaking of Suzuki, the right fielder headed back to Arizona on Sunday to rejoin the Cubs in camp. The team hasn’t provided an update on his injured knee, which he suffered on an attempted steal in Japan’s loss to Venezuela on Saturday, but the fact that he apparently didn’t undergo imaging in Miami seems like a good sign. There didn’t appear to be any mechanism for serious injury, maybe just a bruise or something, but we’ll have to wait to see what the Cubs say about it.
“[We need to] get our hands on Seiya and see what’s going on,” Craig Counsell told reporters. “I think it’s just best we wait and see, and let our doctors and trainers take a look at him and see what’s going on.”
Taillon Shelled Again
Even with the perspective that spring results don’t matter, Jameson Taillon‘s Cactus League starts have gone from bothersome to borderline alarming. His start for Canada offered a little hope that allowing two homers in each of his first three spring outings was just a matter of shaking off the rust. Then he went out and gave up two more tanks to a watered-down Dodgers lineup on Sunday.
The righty gave up 10 earned runs on eight hits, but his four walks over 3.1 innings might be the bigger issue. But hey, he’s struggled in previous springs before tightening things up when the games matter, so maybe we should just focus on him stretching out to 70 pitches. The kick change looked good, so that is what I’ll choose to take away from this outing.
More News and Notes
- After originally announcing Michael Lorenzen as the starter for the semifinal game against Venezuela, Team Italy is going with Aaron Nola. That could mean Francisco Cervelli is going to piggyback the two, as suggested by Daniel Álvarez-Montes (who first reported Nola as the starter), or he could be saving Lorenzen for a possible rematch with Team USA after he dominated them last week. As any travel ball dad can tell you, though, you can’t save arms for games that might not happen.
- Nolan McLean will get the start for Team USA in the finale, which had been the plan all along.
- Francisco Lindor was back in the Mets’ lineup on Sunday, his first action of the spring after suffering a broken left hamate bone that required surgery. The initial plan was to ease him in with two at-bats, but he got a third and hit a single.
- Former Cubs great Miles Mastrobuoni left Team Italy after suffering a calf strain, and he has rejoined the Mariners in camp.
- Yesterday was also Selection Sunday, and we’ve got a way for you to support the Lost Boyz by joining a bracket pool. You can pay your $25 buy-in by Venmo (@danny-rockett) or PayPal: (sonranto@gmail.com — friends and family only to avoid fees).
- Moisés Ballesteros continues to impress at the plate, which is why the Cubs are leaning on him to replace a good chunk of what was lost when Kyle Tucker left. Not all of it, mind you, but the combination of Mo Baller, Alex Bregman, and Suzuki should take the sting out of losing a first-half MVP contender.
- Bregman will need to turn it up a little bit, though, as he’s been supplanted by Gunnar Henderson in Team USA’s A lineup. Henderson has out-hit his older teammate, including a big home run in Sunday’s win.
Trailer Time
Ready or Not tells the story of Grace MacCaullay, a young woman who believes she is marrying into the wealthy Le Domas family. As she quickly learns, however, she is at the center of a deadly game of hide-and-seek meant to lift a demonic curse through human sacrifice. Despite coming more than six years later, the sequel picks up immediately after the original and sees Grace thrust into a new game with even bigger stakes.
This has some very strong Cabin in the Woods vibes, and it strikes me as eerily similar to They Will Kill You, which releases just a week later. Weird how that tends to happen in Hollywood. Anyway, this figures to be a totally bonkers splatter-fest with an outstanding cast.
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