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By Jason Fray
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The expectations for Team USA heading into the 2026 World Baseball Classic were immense.
This was supposed to be the deepest and most talented team ever constructed. While some may quibble over specific roster choices, this group of players is still littered with a host of perennial MLB All-Stars. The Americans were supposed to be motivated by having not won the tournament in nearly a decade (2017).
Instead, manager Mark DeRosa's team is on the cusp of not even making it out of pool play.
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Tuesday's 8-6 loss to Team Italy was shocking, to say the least. It's not to say the Italians didn't boast talent. There were a plethora of capable MLB players going toe-to-toe with the Americans. Credit the team for easily winning the most significant game in its program's history.
Having said that, the supposed gulf in talent on paper was real. The U.S. was supposed to steamroll through its group en route to a future matchup against the Dominican Republic or rival Japan.
The loss now puts the United States in real danger of not even making it out of their group. Italy plays Mexico Wednesday evening. If Italy simply beats Mexico, the U.S. will advance as the No. 2 team from Pool B.
A more complicated scenario occurs if Mexico triumphs over the Italians. The United States (based on run differential) would need Mexico to score five or more runs. However, if it's a low scoring game with the Mexicans pulling out the victory, the United States would be sent home in embarrassing fashion.
A bigger, more overarching question must be asked: how did the U.S. get to this point?
In a word, arrogance. There have been multiple examples of arrogance which indirectly contributed to this team underachieving up to this point.
DeRosa appeared on MLB Network's "Hot Stove" prior to the Italy game. He mistakenly spoke about how the "ticket's been punched to the quarterfinals," and that included affording DeRosa the ability to rest players/give obvious bench options an opportunity to play.
In fact, DeRosa was flat-out wrong in making that statement. He did take responsibility for the flub in the postgame — though it's mind-boggling for the manager of Team USA to not fully understand where his team's positioning is during the tournament.
Harper is also drawing some ire from the fanbase at this given time. In an article from The Athletic written by Evan Drellich, the veteran infielder strangely downplayed the significance of the World Baseball Classic, saying that "Obviously, the WBC is great, but it's not the Olympics."
This comment is yet again steeped in arrogance. When watching other nations compete in the WBC, there are visible levels of excitement, passion, and pride. One could make the case that some of the athletes would value this competition more than a World Series if forced to pick between the two.
Duly, there's probably a high likelihood other Americans that were not picked for this iteration of Team USA would disagree with Harper — and instead would relish the chance at representing the United States without any asterisks associated. Harper's on-field performance has been less-than-stellar. He's hitting .200 with three hits in 15 at-bats (no extra-base hits). Harper also struck out a team-high five times for good measure.
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Lastly, there's the strange situation involving catcher Cal "Big Dumper" Raleigh and his Seattle Mariners teammate Randy Arozarena. Arozarena, representing Mexico, came up to the plate during Monday's 5-3 loss to the Americans.
Arozarena appeared to try and say hello with a handshake. Raleigh refused the gesture and said something to his Seattle teammate before play resumed.
There's an element of this where competition is prioritized over respect and kindness. Raleigh didn't have to shake Arozarena's hand. It ultimately became a major media story to the point where both have had to address it. At the very least, it's developed into a major distraction for Team USA — and an unnecessary one at that.
All of these things represent a larger issue with this team. While others competing in the tournament have been outwardly joyful and expressive, this team for the most part has been somewhat stoic — and maybe that's due to the pressure bestowed upon the group for months leading up the tournament.
The Italians may have just been the better team on the day Tuesday evening. Team USA may ultimately advance and win the whole tournament thus rendering these points moot.
However, there seems to be a sense that things have to change quickly for this group from a mindset standpoint ... assuming there's further opportunity to actually take advantage of that premise.
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