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Venezuela, Mark DeRosa and Winners and Losers of 2026 World Baseball Classic
Just about any way you measure it, the 2026 World Baseball Classic was a rousing success.
While some of the usual suspects—the United States, Venezuela, Dominican Republic and Japan—had major moments in the two-week tournament, Italy also made a Cinderella run to the semifinal that was arguably the best story of the entire WBC. Then again, Venezuela might have something to say about that considering they defeated the United States 3-2 to win the WBC for the first time.
With the sixth World Baseball Classic in the books, let's take a look at some of the winners and losers of this cycle.
Winner: Italy
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Sure, Italy's team was mostly made up of American-born players with Italian heritage, but a group of players who weren't asked to play for Team USA embraced being Italian for a couple weeks.
Before falling to Venezuela in the semifinals, Italy went 4-0 to win Pool B. That included victories over both the United States and Mexico, two countries with much deeper rosters and baseball traditions.
Not only did Italy make it out of their pool over Mexico, but they went on to defeat Puerto Rico in a quarterfinal game that saw seven different pitchers take the ball for Italy.
Whether it was Vinnie Pasquantino becoming the first player in the history of the tournament with three home runs in a game, or dominant pitching performances from Aaron Nola and Michael Lorenzen, the Italian squad had plenty of opportunities to take celebratory espresso shots.
What's crazy is that while Italy isn't going to sneak up on anyone in 2030, Francisco Cervelli's squad is set up pretty well to make noise again in four years. Nola and Lorenzen may age out of things, but Pasquantino (28), Jac Caglianone (23), Andrew Fischer (21) and Dante Nori (21) should all be back next cycle.
Italy may not have won it all, but they are arguably the biggest winners in this tournament because baseball in their country should get a boon from this.
Loser: Japan
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When Shohei Ohtani countered a Ronald Acuña Jr. leadoff home run for Team Venezuela with a leadoff blast of his own for Team Japan, you felt like the defending Champions were going to find a way to win their quarterfinal matchup.
Instead, reigning World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto looked mortal, allowing four hits and two runs over four innings. Seiya Suzuki had to leave the game after getting injured on a slide into second base. And Samurai Japan lost to a resilient Venezuelan squad, 8-5.
Obviously, Japan isn't going anywhere. It's a country that's as baseball crazed as any in the world. We don't know if Ohtani, 31, will still be at the height of his powers in four years, but Japan should be a contender regardless.
However, they've set such a high standard as a country that anything short of winning the tournament — let alone not even making it into the final four — feels like a failure.
Winner: ABS
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You can be a USA fan without being a hack — the final pitch that Mason Miller struck Geraldo Perdomo out on to save a USA semifinal victory over the Dominican Republic was not a strike.
It just wasn't:
If what was called strike three had been able to be challenged, it would have been overturned. That doesn't mean that the DR necessarily would have won, but they would have had Fernando Tatis Jr. coming up with the game on the line against his San Diego Padres teammate in Miller. It would have been great theater.
These are the type of moments that ABS exists for. You don't want a major game to end on an obviously incorrect call. Beginning this year in MLB, players—assuming they haven't burned their challenges earlier in the game—will be able to contest incorrect calls. ABS was probably coming to the WBC in 2030 anyway, but after this, it's a certainty.
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Loser: Mark DeRosa
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If you think about it, being manager of team USA in the World Baseball Classic isn't a particularly enviable job. If you don't win it all, you're considered a failure, even if MLB teams put limitations on how you can use your pitching staff.
Under Mark DeRosa, Team USA has reached the WBC Championship twice in as many tries. Unfortunately, they are 0-for-2 in the final, losing to Japan in 2023 and Venezuela in 2026. That alone might have sealed DeRosa's fate.
Still, the biggest blunder that DeRosa had in the tournament was seeming to be unaware that the United States had not punched their ticket to the quarterfinals while managing what turned out to be a loss to Italy to wrap up pool play for the stars and stripes:
After the loss, DeRosa tried to walk back the comments he made on MLB Network prior to the game:
As many have pointed out, there's a difference between misspeaking and getting something wrong. At the very least, the perception is out there that DeRosa didn't know the rules of the tournament he was managing in for the second time.
Fortunately for Team USA, they wound up making it through to the quarterfinals, despite finishing runner-up to Italy in Pool B. They even won two more games to make it back to the championship game.
Nonetheless, DeRosa was booed during introductions at loanDepot Park prior to the final, and those boos seemingly came from Team USA fans, because the rest of the American lineup didn't get the same kind of cold reception.
It isn't DeRosa's fault that Tarik Skubal—more on him in a minute—was only available for one start. He also can't really be blamed for Bryce Harper being the only hitter who performed during the final loss to Venezuela. But the reality is that in two turns as manager, Team USA hasn't won Gold. And he clearly has some egg on his face coming out of this year's tournament, which might mean someone else is the manager next time around (or in the 2028 Olympics).
Winner: Venezuela
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No one is saying that Salvador Perez doesn't cherish the World Series he won with the Kansas City Royals in 2015, or that Ronald Acuña Jr. isn't desperate to be healthy when the Atlanta Braves win it all.
But it is clear that while American players would love to win the WBC, it doesn't mean as much in this country as it does to some others. Venezuela is at the top of the list, and Perez, Acuña, Eugenio Suárez and others celebrated the nation's first WBC title, it could definitely be argued that winning this meant more than a World Series would for many of these players:
It could be argued that the United States needs to find a way to change the culture where winning a WBC title means as much or more than a World Series for MLB stars. Exactly how that would be done is unclear.
What is clear is that for a country in Venezuela that's been in turmoil for much of its recent history, winning this title offered a brief reprieve and gave the nation and its residents enormous pride. It's pretty cool when baseball can have that effect.
Loser: Tarik Skubal
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Two-time defending AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal is likely looking at a $400+ million contract next winter if he stays healthy. No one can blame him for being cautious this close to free agency with generational wealth on the horizon.
Fairly or unfairly, though, Skubal drew the ire of Team USA fans for electing to pitch just once in the tournament, doing so in a fairly inconsequential game against Great Britain that probably could have been won with anyone on the mound.
Truthfully, Skubal probably should have just passed on pitching in the tournament. Garrett Crochet, who has financial security, did so, and no one is mad at him. People are upset with Skubal because he was only halfway in.
He even flirted with the possibility of making a second start, but ultimately elected to stick to the original plan of only going once.
"Tarik Skubal did NOT say "no" when asked if he'd pitch again in this World Baseball Classic pic.twitter.com/vgWvWhHO4o
— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) March 8, 2026"
Skubal did rejoin Team USA in the dugout later in the tournament, so by all accounts, was a good teammate. But he upset some by not either being all the way in or all the way out. If he was focused on trying to stay healthy in his contract year, he should have just declined the invitation, rather than the weird arrangement he and everyone involved settled on.
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