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By Tyler Erzberger
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Teams from around the world are giving their blood, sweat, and tears to win the World Baseball Classic.
The atmosphere in Japan for the opening group-stage games was comparable to that of the World Cup. The game between the Dominican Republic and Venezuela in Miami felt like Argentina facing Brazil in a high-stakes soccer match.
On Team USA, they're trying to find someone to pitch in the finals if they make it there.
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After an uninspiring close win over Canada on Friday night, the Americans' "superteam" will face the explosive Dominican Republic on Sunday in the matchup of the tournament thus far.
D.R. has blasted everyone in their path thus far, embarrassing a talented South Korea team in the quarterfinals by mercy-ruling them 10-0. On the other end, Team USA is still trying to find an identity, its star-studded lineup sputtering across the line in most of its games.
While the USA will have National League Cy Young winner Paul Skenes on the bump for the semifinal, there's a massive question mark on what will happen if they make the final on Tuesday.
Minnesota Twins' Joe Ryan was slated to be that hero to lead the Americans into the final, but he was left off the initial roster due to a back injury.
Luckily for Team USA, Ryan recovered and would join the team in the semifinals, replacing veteran Clayton Kershaw. But as it's happened multiple times this tournament, more bad news dropped for the USA: it was reported on Saturday that Ryan would stay with the Twins to prepare for Opening Day, rather than pitch in the finale if the Americans get there.
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Following the Tarik Skubal will-he-won't-he saga that ended with him departing the team after the group stage, the Ryan news was just another blemish on what has been an overall unjoyous campaign by Team USA at the WBC.
"Players from other countries would fight tooth and nail for this opportunity," posted one fan on social media following the Ryan news. "Meanwhile, players here seem to look for any excuse not to.
"Most pathetic iteration of Team USA that this tournament has ever seen," added another person on X. "The 2017 squad woulda slapped the [expletive] out of these guys."
"Team USA is full of too many travel ball boys," chimed in another frustrated viewer. "They had fallback plans if baseball didn't work out. The Venezuelans, Dominicans, and Puerto Ricans love this [expletive], it's just nice to be there for the Americans."
For the Ryan decision to even matter, the USA has to overcome the mountain that is the Dominican Republic in the semifinals in Miami. If they lose, everyone on Team USA will be joining Joe Ryan back at spring training, watching the excitement of the final from their clubhouses.
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