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The U.S. manager at the World Baseball Classic, Mark DeRosa, didn't look too good this week when he rested some of his top hitters for the final game of the preliminary round, thinking his team had already qualified for the quarterfinals.
However, it seems he isn't the only one in the international tournament who hasn't been paying close attention to the standings and the bracket. In fact, Vinnie Pasquantino, the captain of the Italian team, made a premature statement regarding the World Baseball Classic semifinals after his team's quarterfinal victory over Puerto Rico.
“I don't know how many people would've picked the Dominican Republic, Japan, the United States, and Italy in the final four, but we're here now”Japan still has to play Venezuela to make the final four
pic.twitter.com/MStL0mB7Kz — DraftKings Sportsbook (@DKSportsbook) March 14, 2026
In an interview, the Kansas City Royals first baseman named the Dominican Republic, Japan, the United States, and Italy as the final four teams still in the tournament, leaving out Venezuela, which had not yet played its quarterfinal match against Japan.
I don't know how many people would have picked the Dominican Republic, Japan, the United States, and Italy to make the final four, but here we are now… It's incredible, man.
About 30 minutes later, however, Pasquantino posted an apology on social media for overlooking Venezuela.I tried to fix it after the fact, but I'm sorry for leaving out Venezuela. I didn't mean to do that. We're looking forward to watching this game; we all know it should be a fireworks show. My bad. I still love you Maikel Garcia, Salvador Perez, Luinder Avila, and Angel Zerpa.
Although we can't presume Pasquash's intentions, his comments were perceived as disrespectful toward the Venezuelan team, which, after all, boasts a lineup full of talented MLB players.
