Fair Territory WBC Quarterfinal Preview: Cinderella Stories, Pitching Matchups, Owen Caissie’s showcase

00:00:14
Speaker 1: Welcome everyone to the Thursday edition of Fair Territory. I'm Ken Rosenthal, coming to you from Houston today, scene of the WBC pool play and now the quarterfinals, and I am joined, of course by my friend Alana Rizzo, who's coming to you from Parts unknown. We're going to talk a lot of WBC today and we're going to get into all of the fun and the craziness that has occurred over the last week or so.

00:00:38
Speaker 2: It has been crazy, Ken, as we head to the knockout round. This is brought to you, of course, by Fox One. All of our World Baseball Classic coverage is brought to you by our friends at Fox one, which is live stream all your Fox favorites together in one place, including all WBC games over the next few weeks, and after that the best Major League Baseball action all season long. Ken, you mentioned you are in Houston. A big one today in the quarterfinals, Team USA versus Team Canada eight pm on Fox. You are on the call. What is what is your feeling about Team USA's chances to win it all? After the Italy lost, But thank goodness to those Italians because the Americans are in all right.

00:01:18
Speaker 1: Actually a lot of the games tomorrow. Sorry, no, probably, we don't want to have any misspeaking here.

00:01:24
Speaker 3: Yes I misspoke. Oh gosh.

00:01:26
Speaker 1: So, as I wrote last night, as that game ended between Italy and Mexico, the US got a reprieve here. And for all the drama that happened over the last twenty four to thirty six hours, with the actual miss speaking by the manager Mark de Rosa, with the flat performance against Italy, flat at least for the first few innings, and with all of that was just circulating around this team, the long meeting, the fact that they were dragging according to their manager or some of the guys, were that all years now, or at least it should because the moment the first pitch is thrown Friday night in the quarterfinal against Canada, it's a new ballgame for them and they have a chance now to just go forward and just forget all that happened. And listen, mistakes are made. Guys have bad days. We all get it. We all have bad days. And that's what happened. It happened all around for Team USA, from the manager to the players, and as I wrote today before, it was kind of inconceivable that it came to this, but it did, and now again because of Italy's win, Italy wins Group B, Pool B and the finishes as the runner up Italy four and oh US three and one, Mexico two and two. No tie breakers, no run quotient formula, no nothing. And now, as you said, allot it, it's the knockout round. US Versus Canada Logan Web versus Michael Soroka is the scheduled matchup, and it seems to me the US should win this game and advance to the semifinal against likely or possibly the Dominican Republic. But I think we've learned in this tournament not to take anything for granted. And clearly we're going to see now if the US can rebound and how they rebound, and how the rows, some managers and all the questions that surface the other night are going to come to the four. But we'll see how it plays out. And I don't want to dismiss Canada. They're going to start in this game Soroka, who is a guy with a lot of talent. He's been hurt in his career a time. They've got Owen Casey, the Marlins prospect, who is likely going to be on their team. He's hot. They've got Josh Naylor, They've got bon Naylor, they have major league quality players, and as we've seen with Italy, major league quality players and some good young players can take you a long way in this tournament.

00:03:47
Speaker 2: I want to ask you Ken. You also wrote though, that the player buy in for future years could be a factor if this tournament does end on a sour note for Team USA. I'm assuming that you're speaking specifically about a mayor American players or Team USA players in terms of a future buy in.

00:04:04
Speaker 1: Yes, I am, And remember there was a problem with Buyan in the past before twenty three, and twenty three kind of changed things. Obviously the dramatic game that ended it with a tiny striking out trout, but even some of the great games that took place before that one, players were more motivated this time to play. But if this ends badly and there's criticism and all the things that come with losing and elimination, my question is, Okay, are guys going to be less inclined if they don't have a certain amount of playing time guaranteed. I don't know that it's going to take place that way. And yes, I was getting a little ahead of myself, but Byan's fragile with the US players, and it's a little bit different than it is with the players in Asian and Latin American countries. So I do wonder if indeed this becomes something of a negative ending if things change, or it could be the other way too. That increases the motivation for players, Hey, we want to win. That's it. Maybe the guy who is the next Tarrek Schooll, a free agent pitcher who is entering his walk ear says, you know what, I'm pitching twice, not once. Let's go. So I don't know how it's going to turn out, but it's just one thing that is a possible ramification here.

00:05:25
Speaker 2: You mentioned Owen Casey earlier perhaps making the team for the Marlins.

00:05:28
Speaker 3: Is he a future star? Ken?

00:05:30
Speaker 2: Is this guy in terms of his stock? Is it ascending? What do you know about him?

00:05:35
Speaker 1: It's been high for quite some time. It's the top one hundred prospect. He's a guy that obviously the Cubs did not want to part with in the trade for Edward Cabrera, but he is someone that they ultimately did part with because they got the control on Cabrera and obviously they felt that the exchange was worthwhile. But Casey's been hot in this tournament. He's been really good. He's someone with an immense promise because of his physique and his power and all the things that come with it. So I'm looking forward to seeing him here and I'm looking forward to seeing Canada play. They've done a great job so far. And Puerto Rico is the other team in the quarterfinal in Houston. They're going to play Italy, and they've had a great story too, because of all the insurance problems that they had earlier. No Lindor, no care, no Jose Berrios, and yet now they get there with Yadier Molina as their manager. It's going to be really interesting to see them play Italy. And then, of course we have the other matchups going on in Miami with Dominican Republic, Korea and Venezuela, and also of course Japan.

00:06:36
Speaker 3: Yeah, let's take a look at that bracket.

00:06:37
Speaker 2: We talked exclusively so far about Team USA versus Team Canada, but there are three other games going on in the bracket.

00:06:45
Speaker 3: You can see it there.

00:06:46
Speaker 2: It's going to be Korea going up against the Dominican Republic. Of course, the United States and Canada. Then it's going to be Puerto Rico against Mexico and then Venezuela going up against Japan. So let's talk ken about to the Dominican game, the Korea versus the DR game on Saturday on Friday rather on FS two. That's in Miami. It's six thirty Eastern. The Dominican Republic.

00:07:10
Speaker 3: I don't know.

00:07:10
Speaker 2: Do you think they had the best chance Tea in pool play? Do you think they were the best team in pool play?

00:07:17
Speaker 1: I do, and I actually believe they're the favorite in this tournament. They're riding obviously a wave of emotion. The highlights from Miami from pool play were astounding, one after another. The home runs, the celebrations, the passion that they play with. Now, is there pitching going to be good enough to get through this tournament? We're gonna find out. But at the same time, they are a team that I expect will be Korea and I expect would give the US a big problem in the semi final, though it would be Schiens starting for the US. So I still see the DR as really good. And we talk about the US lineup all the time out it's so good Themican Republic line up. It's really good too. It's every bit is good, if not better. So I do see them beating Korea. I expect Korea will be just overwhelmed by what the Dominican Republic has Offensively, we'll.

00:08:10
Speaker 3: See, all right.

00:08:12
Speaker 2: Now, does Korea have a puncher's chance? Though you had mentioned that they might be a little bit overwhelmed. I mean, we didn't think that some of these teams were going to advance, and they did.

00:08:21
Speaker 3: Does Korea have a shot?

00:08:23
Speaker 1: Absolutely, Alana. And the one thing we learned from the Italy US game is yes, there's always a puncher's chance. It's baseball. I'm not excusing what happened with the US. They should have won that game. Should have beaten Michael Lorenzen, who's kind of a journeyman right hander, should have beaten the team that was playing some younger guys and guys who had a combined zero All Star appearances. But it is baseball, so things can happen. And Korea, like Japan, plays fundamentally sound, and yes, they have a puncher's chance. Absolutely.

00:08:55
Speaker 3: Okay.

00:08:56
Speaker 2: Now the other game, this one's on Saturday, three pm Eastern on FS one, the one in Houston, Italy, versus Puerto Rico three pm Eastern.

00:09:05
Speaker 3: I tell you what, if anything can.

00:09:07
Speaker 2: Italy is riding high, not only on the espresso, but on the thought that they've got a fighting chance in this thing.

00:09:15
Speaker 1: Four and owen Pool play, and I don't know that anyone anticipated that. And they have a very intriguing blend of players, and yes, Pascentino had the amazing night last night with three homers. They have some other major league veterans as well, but some of their younger players have really come to the fore here. Dante Nori, Nick Morbido, Sam Antonacci, a lot of these guys. They're not top one hundred prospects, but their top ten prospects in their organizations and in the players' parlance, they are showing out. So Italy, with Samuel Aldegary on the mound, should be in a good spot here and I would expect that they're going to be the favorite in that game to advance to the semifinals.

00:09:57
Speaker 2: The one I'm excited about as well ken Saturday night on Fox, of course in Miami Venezuela going up against Japan, and I think what makes me the most excited is the probables in terms of the starting pitching Ranger Suarez versus Yoshi Nobu Yamamoto.

00:10:13
Speaker 1: That is a playoff caliber matchup right there. We've probably seen that matchup in the playoffs. Well maybe not exactly that matchup, but those guys are both pitchers who have played for playoff caliber teams. Yamamoto had the great run last year in October and range of Suarez is going to be the coolest customer in that ballpark that night. He is always the coolest customer whenever he pitches. So you talked about, well, does Korea have a puncher's chance? Yes, and so does Venezuela. It's not maybe as powerful a team as it could have been with al Tuve and of course, but they still got Salparez, They've still got a Kunya, They've got some guys, and that's going to be a fun game to watch. I would think.

00:10:57
Speaker 3: I'm looking forward to it.

00:10:58
Speaker 2: If you had to kind of pick the winners of each of the four ken, who are you picking right now?

00:11:05
Speaker 1: I'll go with US. I'll go with Italy, Dominican Republic and Japan, and that would be a spectacular semi final group, no doubt. And if Puerto Ricoo gets past Italy. That would be great too, because Miami, of course is I would think, in my view anyway, the capital of Latin America in many ways, and there are people from all different countries in Latin America who live in Miami who are extremely passionate about baseball. We've seen it in the crowds so far in pool play. So if you got Puerto Rico there along with the Dominican Republic and maybe even Venezuela, you could really see something.

00:11:41
Speaker 3: There's still some great teams out there.

00:11:42
Speaker 2: It's gonna be a lot of fun as the quarterfinals, of course have started, from the WBC through the World Series, to the World Cup, to NASCAR and IndyCar. With Fox One, you'll get it all live. Start your seven day free trial today offers our subject to change. Download Fox one today and stream the World Baseball Classic live now through March seventeenth. Go to foxwe dot com for complete terms and conditions. Fox won streaming.

00:12:05
Speaker 3: Now. It is time for Grill and Ken.

00:12:14
Speaker 2: You guys get the opportunity to ask Ken Rosenthal a question. So what we're going to start with here, Ken is starting with your favorite moment of pool play. We've had some great matchups so far, some great games in pool play.

00:12:26
Speaker 3: Anything stand out to you.

00:12:29
Speaker 1: The espresso machine. And here's the funny story behind the espresso machine. So obviously it's in the dugout for the first game, which I believe was against Brazil, I'm not exactly sure. And that night the players were basically getting their throats burned because the espresso is so hot. So they put the athletic trainers in charge of it, and now they're pre making the shots, so it's a little bit cooler. They are a little bit cooler once the players get to them. They're not getting their throats burned. And that has been one of the highlights of the tournament for me, just seeing after Italian hole runs and they hit seven in the last two games. By the way, those espresso.

00:13:07
Speaker 2: Shots, I agree with you on that, but I see your espresso shots and I will raise you the double kiss. So I love the fact that Vinnie Pasquentino started doing this with the Royals, and now he obviously brought it to the Italian dugout. He was kind of just the barista for a while until a massive game for Italy yesterday. But the whole double kiss, it's a very Italian thing. It's a very Latin thing to do. That has to be my favorite moment. Plus watching the Dominican players play and the absolute joy that the Dominican team has and just how much fun it is, all the just the overall celebration and all of those types of things.

00:13:44
Speaker 3: So I love it.

00:13:45
Speaker 2: I love the WBC because of this. The power of espresso as armand is amazing. Has pointed out as well as far as here's another question here from Foul Territory Show. Oh, actually, here's some roster changes too, so let's see this. Will vest Ken, Tyler, Rogers, Tim Hill reportedly added to Team USA. Anyone else not on the roster that could end that could impact the end result.

00:14:12
Speaker 3: What do you think about that?

00:14:14
Speaker 1: Yes, Joe Ryan and these changes were expected. Matt strom is another reliever who has been on the designated Picture pool list and he could be added at some point. So here's the deal with this. You can add four pictures after pool play and you can see those three names. Matt Strow might be the other for all I know, those three, I guess have been announced, and then after the quarterfinal you can add two more pictures. So Joe Ryan made his first spring start a couple of days ago. He looked good, three scoreless innings, and of course he's coming off that lower back inflammation, so he will be in play if they add him for the championship game if they get there. So these additions were largely expected. Du Rosa basically said, it's guarantee they're going to be check changes last week, and you see those relievers right there. They will come in and refresh the pitching staff, so to speak. And I know that one of the guys who has gone is Ryan Yarborough. He's back in the Yankees camp this morning. So this was the plan all along, and other teams will probably make similar changes.

00:15:18
Speaker 2: I love this next question Ken from Muncy fifteen. Two pitchers who pitched last night, Aaron Nola and Sandi al Contra. Who looks better to have the bigger bounce back season.

00:15:28
Speaker 1: Oh, great question and both pitched really well, I would say Alcantra, and this is going to be his second year removed from Tommy John and he, after a tough start last year, kind of got rolling and it's going to be probably his free agent year. I believe there's an option that they're going to most likely decline or more likely than anything, they'll trade him, and I just expect Sandia al Contra to be back to what he was, maybe not cy young form, but certainly one of the top pitchers in the game. And that's not the discount. No, well, he looked great last night. He is an accomplished, quality major league pitcher and I kind of always expect him to pitch well and I'm surprised when he doesn't.

00:16:09
Speaker 2: He is ready to take any position, anything that they want him to do. We'll talk about that momentarily. Hamilton the Babe Porter, any concerns with Nolan McClain starting for the US in the finals if they make it young player, young arm and he thought there can.

00:16:24
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's certainly a concern that he struggled a little bit in that last game. It's interesting he struck out the side against Italy to start the game and then he had some things happen and ends up allowing three runs in three innings. Is it ideal? No, it's not ideal. Would you rather have Trek Scooble come on one hundred percent? But Nolan McLain is a guy who is not afraid. He's got six pitches and I would expect that the last game was a lonely experience. And again, one of the key things to remember here, if they get that far, they're gonna have a fresh pitching staff. They're gonna have guys rested. There's a day off in between the semifinal in the final for us, they should be in a decent position, as decent as they can be. If you have Ryan available, if you have some others available, some of these new relievers, Mason Miller, All these guys should be okay. Is it perfect? No, But worry about that when they get there. They've got to get there first.

00:17:18
Speaker 2: Can Are you concerned about Mark de Rosa perhaps being a little hamstrung in terms of pitchers, particularly relief pitchers. Obviously had Kersha up late against Italy that didn't end up working out. He went with Mason Miller. I believe instead any concern there about the way that the bullpen would need to be managed moving forward.

00:17:36
Speaker 1: That's the biggest challenge that Rosa and his staff face handling the pitching now. The Kershaw moved the other night, and a lot of people were very critical of the fact he's warming up. Why is he warming up when you still have Mason Miller. Well, Mason Miller could not come in the eighth and then come back for the ninth. That's one of the restrictions on him. And if Bednar had gotten past twenty five pitches, and he nearly did, then they were essentially out of pitching. And that's why Kershel would have needed to be in the game. So that wasn't a case of taking the opponent lightly or not understanding the rules. He was hamstrung in that particular case. So I would expect that with the new pitchers coming in it would ease the problem somewhat. But at the same time, handling a staff is definitely the biggest issue that this team is going to face that a lot of teams do face in this tournament.

00:18:24
Speaker 2: Can Maybe we're not talking about Team Japan enough, which is interesting because they are the reigning champs of course, of the WBC a few years ago. Does Japan playing a road game against a possibly pro Venezuela crowd help the underdog, You.

00:18:39
Speaker 1: Could say that, But they played a road game in the twenty twenty three tournament as well, actually two road games to get to where they got to, and they beat Mexico in the semifinal if I'm not mistaken, and then of course they beat the US in the finals. So I don't know that Team Japan is going to be perturbed by anything that might happen, going to be in a good spot. They know how to handle this. And having Otani as your team leader, we saw the stability he provided for this team in twenty three. Remember what he told the players before the championship game when they were going to play the US. He said, Hey, I know you've watched these guys on TV. I know you know who they are. They're not better than us. Let's just go play and see what happens. And of course those words proved rather wise.

00:19:26
Speaker 3: Yes they did.

00:19:27
Speaker 2: All right, we're going to be back right after this a quick break and then we'll be back with Dude and Dork.

00:19:32
Speaker 1: Of the Week.

00:19:33
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00:19:57
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00:20:08
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00:20:48
Speaker 1: Dude, Dude, dude.

00:20:57
Speaker 2: Our dude of the week, A lot of different people to choose from. Ken, go ahead and give me the guy, the guy or gal that got your honors.

00:21:05
Speaker 1: Michael Lorenzen, team Italy starter against the US and I spoke to him two days before his start and he basically said he was relishing pitching against Team USA and I was like, really, you want to them? He said, yes, this is the kind of challenge and this kind of environment that we play for, we live for, and that's what separates these players from mortal men. And he said, even if they embarrassed me, it'll be a great experience, it'll be a once in a lifetime opportunity for me. Well, it didn't embarrass him. He pitched brilliantly, So he is my dude of the week. Michael Lorenzen. Yeah.

00:21:39
Speaker 2: Michael Lorenzen and the other couple of Rockies pitchers that are participating in the World Baseball Classic all pitching very well. I don't think amongst the three of them they've given up an earned run yet. Somebody fact checked me on that, but I'm pretty certain about that.

00:21:50
Speaker 3: My dude of the week.

00:21:52
Speaker 2: Again, a lot of different people to choose from, but I'm taking Vinny p. I just love everything about this guy. I love the energy, I love the self listeners that he brings not only to his team with the Royals, but what he's done for Team Italy. I mean, taken every single shot of espresso, bringing the kissing into the dugout, the fact that he hit three home runs that's never been done in a WBC game before. I just love his energy, and I loved his postgame interview of course, when he was saying you're welcome, USA. I just think he's a good dude. He's good for the game, and it's fun to see him have fun all right. Time now for our dork of the week, Okay, Ken again, kind of a lot to choose from this week.

00:22:40
Speaker 3: Who do you have?

00:22:41
Speaker 1: All Right? I know the obvious choice is Mark de Rosa, but he's taken enough heat in the last twenty four hours, so I'm going to question why are former employer MLB Network saw fit to put de Rosa on the air the morning after that game against Mexico when they had in the clubhouse until late at night. And he is the manager of this team, he should not be required to be doing his normal TV appearances or even any TV appearances during the tournament, and he has enough media obligations as just the manager of the team before games, press conferences and meetings with the broadcasters. That should not have happened. And I don't know if he was tired, if he was confused, if he didn't know the rules, although I really do believe he did. But in my view, he could have been corrected on the air by Matt and Harold. A lot of things could have gone differently here. And it's tough because at times you feel like he got let down by some people around him, and I believe that happened here, and I'm not sure exactly who, and I'm sure exactly how they should have gone down, And he certainly has responsibility and he's taken responsibility for it. No problem there, but man, I don't know that he should be doing his normal morning circuit or even his extra circuit. And he's the manager of Team USA.

00:24:02
Speaker 2: Can somebody in the Mark DeRosa camp or Team USA camp could have intervened there and said, hey, that's a mistake, let's get this corrected early. It goes along the line in terms of my dork of the Week with kind of what you're saying. I think Evan Drelik had a great tweet about this. A league run network has a league run tournament and hires a network league employee to manage the team. Seems like too much league going on there, So I'm kind of going with that. It's just a lot of league and I think obviously that's why Mark DeRosa was on Hot Stove the following morning, because of course he is a Major League Baseball Network employee. I think MLB Network does a great job covering our sport, but I don't know that everything being so league driven. Obviously, the WBC is owned by the league, the network is owned by the league. Deroso works for MLB Network. All of the things, it's just too much league going on and not a ton of separation.

00:24:51
Speaker 3: Go ahead.

00:24:52
Speaker 1: And one more point here too, Alana, And I don't know exactly how that appearance came about, but de Rosa mentioned that that was Scourgion and Harold Reynold or his friends, and maybe he was just trying to do his friends a favor. But in general, he's kind of just do his job here and not that job, the main job, and that is something that in the future I would expect is going to change some How do.

00:25:16
Speaker 2: You expect him to respond as a manager? Can Some of the criticism was that Mark de Rosa doesn't have any managerial experience?

00:25:23
Speaker 3: Why is he?

00:25:25
Speaker 2: Who is a very good analyst, I believe I learn a lot from dro Why is he managing Team USA when there are actual bona fide managers who have MLB managerial experience sitting out there? How does he respond as a manager? And is the criticism fair?

00:25:40
Speaker 1: That's certainly a fair question, And the one thing I would say is that question was much more applicable in twenty twenty three when he hadn't done this, and at that time he's named the manager, and not that many people were critical of it. It seemed like, Okay, he's a guy that has managerial aspirations, or at least did at that time, so why not put him out there? And he now has the experience from twenty twenty three, So if you're asking that question, that question really should have been asked, then it's fair. And in the future I would expect maybe they go with a more experienced manager. Remember Buck Martinez, Joe Torre and Jim Leland were the managers before Duro, so they all were former major league managers, and I can see that happening again. But at the same time, he is in a better spot this time than he was last time he's gone through this. That's not to say that a more experienced guy couldn't do better, but really, what's the damage that he has done here? Okay, maybe some questionable lineup decisions, some of them worked out better than that people have talked about. Pete crow Armstrong had two home runs in place of Byron Buxton. I don't know that he's screwed up the game. I do think, and I basically wrote this, I don't know that they took that game seriously enough. And that is on the manager, it's on the entire team. But is that due to his inexperience or is that due to just overconfidence? Well?

00:27:02
Speaker 2: Mark de rosa Italian man as well. He owes Team Italy a big fat dinner when this is all over. We appreciate you guys being with us. Thank you so much for watching and listening out. Territory is coming up next, ajay, is that twins? I'm going to be over there as well, hooking up with a J and Eric Kratz. We have great guests today, Fair with ten returns on Monday. Enjoy the knockout round.

00:27:24
Speaker 3: We'll talk to you then.