WBC Updates: Ken Rosenthal & Team Italy’s Jon Berti join FT

00:00:01
Speaker 1: Touch out.

00:00:03
Speaker 2: Welcome back to foul territory. We're gonna get into a little WBC discussion. Boys, USA versus Canada tonight, our neighbors to the north.

00:00:11
Speaker 3: What do you got?

00:00:12
Speaker 2: Joe Ryan's gonna come on for Clayton Kershaw if they make it past this game. Matthew Boyd has left. We've already heard about some roster moves with the bullpen. Tim Hill, will vest right, Tyler Rodgers coming on. What do you guys think happens tonight in the USA Versus Canada?

00:00:30
Speaker 4: Yeah?

00:00:30
Speaker 5: I think ultimately USA is gonna come out on top. That's why I'm wearing this shirt. I think they do. I don't know if it's in the blowout fashion ag. I've heard you talk about it a little bit earlier. I've talked about a little bit earlier. Canada team is not a team to be messed with. This is probably their best team in a long time. They've been playing well. They beat a good Puerto Rico team. They ended up beating a good Cuba team, so they're battle tested. USA should not take this lightly. But I do see them winning, you know, not by blowof fashion, but I do see them winning.

00:01:03
Speaker 4: You know, A pretty close game for sure.

00:01:06
Speaker 6: Obviously this is the time when somebody for Canada needs to step up in the bullpen. You've got some I was looking over their roster and you got some guys. Filipo Mont I mean I played with Filipomnt back in twenty I think it was twenty twelve and maybe even twenty eleven, and he was like twenty or twenty one years old, came over in the Cliff Lee deal. You have to have somebody that steps up that you're like, oh, I remember that name, and you know, oh, he's he's able to throw for him because they don't have as many guys as they had before in that bullpen that were established, like you have a you have different different Canadian closers that have gone over to Japan and had great careers.

00:01:55
Speaker 7: Scott Mathieson is the one that comes to mind.

00:01:57
Speaker 6: I think he played in four of the WBCs. He'll probably text me and be like, no, I played in every single one of them except for this one. So it's one of those things that this team has to be able to have everything hit perfectly because some of their strengths are and they're starting pitching with Soroka with Jamison ty On. Fortunately for them, they have Soroka going tonight, and can he be the guy that mixes and matches because he's not gonna blow one hundred miles an hour past these guys. And that's in my opinion I said before this, that's not how you try to beat Team USA. You can't try to outstuff them. You have to do what Michael Lorenzen did to a T And then you saw what happened when they got to a little bit of some of the weaker guys in that Italian bullpen. They still scored six runs against him. And I'm just afraid if Canada can't put up six runs, it's gonna be tough to keep the US under six runs.

00:02:56
Speaker 2: All Right, Well, we got the Canada, don't forget the Naylor brothers lineup is not case. We've talked about the Naylor brothers. They've got some guys that can can swing. You mentioned who has to step up for Canada. Eric Who's the guy for the US that has to step up and be the guy that leads either the pitching staff or the offense.

00:03:14
Speaker 6: I mean, obviously it starts with Logan Web but that's that's an easy one. But to me, it really has to be the top of the lineup because you can't pitch around Aaron Judge. And I don't know what the line's gonna look like, the configuration. I assume Bobby WIT's gonna be gonna be up there one or two, and whoever it is ahead of judge.

00:03:34
Speaker 7: Everybody says, well, you can't.

00:03:35
Speaker 6: You can't pitch the judge because or you have to pitch the judge because so and so is hitting behind them. I think in a tournament like this, and Todd can attest to this. In international baseball, when there's traffic on the basis, everybody gets a little bit more panicked. It'll be less with Soroka. And you know, Logan Web is not gonna panic. These guys with big Lee experience are gonna have are gonna have less panic in their system. But it just when the table gets set in front of judge, it makes them say, crap, we gotta throw to them, or we can't just put them on to load the bases for Kyle Swarb or Bryce Harper, whoever's hitting behind him. I get that, but it really matters if those guys ahead of them put him in a spot where he can drive guys in. So am I saying Aaron Judge has to step up? No, I'm saying the guys in front of him have to allow Aaron Judge to be the best hitter on the planet like he is.

00:04:31
Speaker 5: Yeah, and to your point, the guys in front of him have to do well, but also the guys behind them too, because one or the other. I think there's gonna be opportunities for both of these guys to step up. Whoever's hitting in the front or behind. But a name like a Bryce Harper and now he's two for ten, but guess what, he's viable to hit three home runs today, you know, like a Pasquatina. The guy is that good of a baseball player. I'm not really worried about him, but he has to be ready to go. And I think the bullpen too. I think the bullpen better be ready. Once Web is done. These guys got to step it up, keep doing what they're doing, get out, throw strikes, and you know, basically when when and if Canada is losing, they got to stomp on them and keep the pressure on them. Because you've seen some of these games. USA came back down eight nothing. You see Venezuela putting pressure on Dominican in the last inning, so ultimately win the game, win it by a lot, and don't keep putting the pressure on these guys.

00:05:31
Speaker 2: Well, by the way, we keep talking about the USA and Canada game, there's also another game today, which is a quarterfinal matchup with a couple of big name teams in at Korea versus Dominican Republic in Miami is going to be absolutely electric. I'm not going to ask you all to break down the Korea team because we don't know a lot about them. So maybe let's go a little bit in the Dominican team. How many homers do we think they hit? How many bat flips do we think they'll have? How will they're pitching? Hold up Sandy al contras That I'll pitch anywhere. I'll pitch five innings, I'll pitch the ninth, I'll pitch the seventh. What do you guys think happens in the Korea?

00:06:04
Speaker 5: Dominican Todd, I'll go Krasty's ready, go ahead, big dog, your itching.

00:06:09
Speaker 6: No, I was just gonna I was gonna take the tougher part. I'll take Korea. I'll take Korea. Oh God, so that Todd can say, you know, all all the home runs in the battlists, because we know Todd loves all that flash and flare.

00:06:22
Speaker 7: But it's Hunging Rio. It's hunting real. We know Hunging Reo.

00:06:26
Speaker 6: He he had opportunities to pitch in the big leagues after he left to go back and pitching Korea, and he wanted to go back and pitching Korea. And he's he's done well over there. He knows how to get big league hitters out. The issue that I see is Hunting Rio. I don't know where his velocity, his stuff, any of that stuff is at is He was consistently a guy that threw that cutter through, that big curveball that he'd land for a strike, and they'd try to get you to bounce, but that back door cutter, he'd run it. He would try to run the back door cutter more than he would like Clayton Kershaw cut her down and in cut her up and in kind of thing. And I'm just afraid if he doesn't establish the inside part of the plate to these Dominican hitters, the way that they look in this tournament, but also the way that they look generally because they're All Stars and MVP type players.

00:07:20
Speaker 7: I'm just afraid it's not.

00:07:22
Speaker 6: Going to go well because of the fact that you can't just live out over the plate or out away from these guys. You have to be able to get in on their hands, to be able to neutralize some of that extension that almost everybody up and down this lineup is getting.

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00:07:54
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00:08:41
Speaker 4: I think a few things.

00:08:42
Speaker 5: The atmosphere his career going to be ready for the for the loud music, the craziness of the fans. I think they are for one, I think they've been around it before.

00:08:52
Speaker 4: It's just going to be a.

00:08:53
Speaker 5: Little bit more looser, a little bit more fun, a little bit more you know, attitude. If they could make this game low scoring, I think Korea does have a shot. And I say that lightly. I think they do have a shot. And you have a veteran in Hinshew, like listen if he can manipulate the strike zone and throw a lot of strikes, because this team has been very good as hitters, laying off all those pitches that a lot of the times they usually swing at. But again, if Korea is gonna keep this score low. The discipline of this team. They've played together for a long time. These guys know each other. Yeah, they do have a shot, but if they start giving up even an infield single, it doesn't matter. The crowd's gonna go absolutely bonkers. They're going to be spinning around the bases. This team plays really well in the Dominican and they have some bats that are absolutely some of the best in the world. So finding a way to minimize runs, having those big innings minimize, then Korea will have their shot.

00:09:56
Speaker 6: All right, Well, we know Time's learn his Olympic his Olympic USA quarter zip, so we know he's for USA. We know that aj has been born in New York, Florida, Chicago. He's one hundred percent American. So tonight, are you cheering for Korea to play the US after they win or are you like it's okay whoever they play.

00:10:21
Speaker 2: Whoever praps, it doesn't matter, It doesn't matter. I mean, look at how it went against Italy. It doesn't matter who they play. It's it's just an easy tournament for the US to slide right through. Right now, of course I'm hearing, I won't listen I want the best matchups right in USA versus Dominican in Miami would be absolutely incredible.

00:10:37
Speaker 3: But do we think here's a better question.

00:10:39
Speaker 2: Do we think Dominican is a problem for anybody that has to face him if they beat Korea? And then I'm gonna ask both of you guys, is and whoever wants to answer, do we think Let's say, Korea is really good at playing small ball and not a lot of these teams are used to playing and defending the small ball. The bunch, the steals, the hit and runs. Korea does that and Japan does that. That's why they've been so successful in this tournament. If it's tight in the end, Korea gets a guy on, they bunt and we see someone maybe make a mistake throwing a ball to a base. We've seen that from some of these relievers. Is Dominican a problem for you guys? And can the Korea small ball be a problem for the Dominican today?

00:11:14
Speaker 4: Yeah? I think a little bit of both.

00:11:16
Speaker 5: And I think with Korea, I talked about it, for their discipline and their honor of the game and how these guys play, they're a problem for anybody. Korea, Japan, Chinese, type pei. You know, Chinese tip pey just didn't have the firepower. That was their problem. But this Korea team they play hard. They play hard against Japan. They are gonna come out and they are going to slap the ball the other way. They're gonna get the bunt down, They're gonna go first to third. They're gonna be in the right positions. You're not gonna see many mistakes. And if you do see some mistakes, it's because of the atmosphere and the crowd, and that got to them a little bit. But this team is ready for it. They're ready for all the smoke. They're respectful, they honor the other team. But ultimately this team here, you saw them, they're crying, they're ready to go. They've wanted this moment for a long time. It's just a matter of how the pitching is gonna be and if they're ready for this moment, you know, coming over here to play against a really good team.

00:12:13
Speaker 6: All right, Well then we got to get to the next game. Then Japan versus Venezuela A jay. I gotta ask you first, who do you think has the better starting pitcher, because then I want it based on the lineup that they're gonna be facing Ranger Suarez from Venezuela versus Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Obviously, Yamamoto's had the better season, but I mean the better career in the big leagues so far. But do you feel like Rangers' ability to change speeds will be enough to keep the Japanese lineup down one hundred percent?

00:12:49
Speaker 2: And I also think he's pitched his huge games for the Phillies. Let's not forget this. Dude's a monster in the postseason. He's an absolute monster in the postseason. He's had unbelievable postseason success. So he can slow the heart, he can breathe, he has all the all the tools to be fine. And the one thing I love about him is he's left handed cratzy. The Japanese lineup has a ton of lefties in it. Whether you're going show Hey, Murkami, whoever you want to go through this list Yoshida. They have a ton of lefties, so he can neutralize them with his not only has change up with the little breaking ball he throws. So I think this is a great matchup for Venezuela. Listen, do we all know what Yamamoto can do we saw it in the World Series. Absolutely, But if they can survive that and then get to the bullpen, Venezuela, as we talked to Carlos narvaias, they have some dudes coming out of the bullpen, and the offense for Venezuela is real.

00:13:35
Speaker 3: Salvador Prez Suarez rise.

00:13:37
Speaker 2: I mean, the names are all names you've heard of Akunya right, This offense is real. So I think if they keep it close, the pressure starts mounting on Japan, the crowd will get behind Venezuela. I think this is an unbelievable matchup. I can't wait to call this game tomorrow night on Fox.

00:13:53
Speaker 5: Yeah, and again, like you said, the big point is left on left. You know you see Shoheo Tani, he is just in a different atmosphere. When it comes to that, he'll be out in front of a ball scoop it out for a home run.

00:14:05
Speaker 4: I think he's gonna be ready to go. He's been.

00:14:07
Speaker 5: I've saw some some clips of him teaching guys, get your elbow up.

00:14:11
Speaker 4: Next thing you know he hits a home run. So these guys are gonna be ready to go.

00:14:14
Speaker 5: They understand what the atmosphere is, and I think Showy is gonna explain to them that too as well. Venezuela team with Salvador Perez. I mean, he's gonna get these guys going. He doesn't want to go home. So we'll see who's gonna throw that first punch, because when it comes, then the next team is gonna be on the rope.

00:14:32
Speaker 4: So it's game. These games are gonna be long, They're gonna be drawn out.

00:14:36
Speaker 5: There's gonna be a lot more timeouts, and we're gonna see who's gonna come out victorious. I mean, talk about a guy that hasn't really done much yet. You Henniyo Suarez. Watch out for him too. He might even be starting or get a pinch it appearance. Watch out all.

00:14:50
Speaker 2: Right, real quick? Who wins? I can't because I'm commentating. I'm commenting. I'm commentating, So who wins?

00:14:54
Speaker 3: Guys?

00:14:55
Speaker 2: Give me the give me the give me the fourth semi finalists? Off these four games we have coming, Who's who's go ahead?

00:15:00
Speaker 4: Time? All right?

00:15:02
Speaker 5: I'm going Japan finding a way to win. It's gonna be a pretty close game. I'm going Usa. I'm going Italy Verse Japan. Excuse me, I'll go Usa versus Dominicano.

00:15:17
Speaker 6: I'm going Puerto Rico versus Puerto Rico's got seth Lugo going, so I like that Versus Japan. I guess that's chalk and I'm chalk with the US and Dominican on the other side.

00:15:32
Speaker 2: All right, So no upsets, all right, But don't forget to check out the nights postgame show with Kratz, Polar and Scott Broun after the US Canada game right here on the Foul Territory Network. And this episode is brought to you by Fox One. Fox one is now live stream all your Fox favorites together in one place, from MLB postseason to NFL on Fox to Big Noon Saturdays with Fox One. You get it all live. Start your seven day free trial today. Offers are subject to change. Go to Fox one for complete terms and conditions. Fox One streaming now inside scoop time here on foul Territory with the one and only Ken Rosenthal from Fox. I'm also from Fox Fox one get the app seven day free trial for the World Baseball Classic.

00:16:20
Speaker 3: Ken.

00:16:21
Speaker 2: I know all you do is work all day, you write all day. So what's your big news you're breaking today?

00:16:27
Speaker 9: No big News AJ But certainly we have a meaningful game tonight in Houston, and it's going to be really interesting to see just how this all plays out. Canada, like Italy, has a number of major league players, and they're not going to be afraid. Obviously, they've got Mike Soroka on the mound. He's faced a lot of these guys. Do I expect the US to win? Of course, I expect the US to win, But as we all learn the other night, in one game, and you guys know this, anything can happen.

00:16:55
Speaker 6: If the game goes in Canada's favor early with Soroka doing well on we assume Logan Web's gonna do well, so it'll be low scoring. Do they have the punch in their lineup to be able to push them past a US team that you assume is gonna score some runs at some point?

00:17:14
Speaker 9: We have assumed that the entire tournament, and they have at times done that. They've been inconsistent offensively. The US has now Canada has Josh Naylor, Tyler O'Neill, bow Naylor, a number of guys who have major League experienced or, in the case of Owen Casey, major league ready. So yes, I do believe they have enough punch if it gets to that kind of game. Sure, But again the question becomes, how is this going to play out for the US. Now, keep in mind there are going to be a number of different relievers in play tonight for the US. Tyler Rodgers joining the team, Will vest Is here as well, and there was one other that is also joining the team, oh Tim Hill. So three new relievers coming in and we're going to see if the team advances. Joe Ryan come into play, possibly for the championship game. But they've got to get there, and they probably learned the other night that you cannot look past any opponent. Mark Durosis said yesterday, they probably went into that game a little overconfident and got a wake up call.

00:18:20
Speaker 5: Do you see any or in the foreseeable future for tonight you see any changes you know, back to the original lineup? Probably, of course, But is there any names you think that might hop in there that you don't think should be playing or should not be playing?

00:18:33
Speaker 4: Do you see any of those kind of changes.

00:18:36
Speaker 1: No.

00:18:36
Speaker 9: I expect to see Harper and Bregman back in the lineup, Todd, and I expect to see as well Cal Rowley back in the lineup.

00:18:43
Speaker 10: He caught web in that first game.

00:18:45
Speaker 9: The one significant move, if you want to call it that even would be p Crow Armstrong for Byron Buxton, and that is going to happen. Krol Armstrong is going to be in there, and of course he's going to be in there. He had two home runs the other night, looked great like Buxton is a premier center field. So that's the one that maybe is different than the previous lineup we saw with this group.

00:19:09
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00:19:40
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00:20:05
Speaker 10: So you can use it later. Thank you to see Geek.

00:20:10
Speaker 7: Adding those three relievers.

00:20:11
Speaker 6: And most likely you said about Joe Ryan possibly if they make the finals, does that give them a little bit of different leeway with Nolan McClain. Is there a chance he'd be ready for a bullpen appearance or the Mets say no, if he's not going to be used a certain way, or have you not been privy to that information.

00:20:29
Speaker 1: No.

00:20:29
Speaker 9: If Nolan McClain pitches in the championship game, which is the expectation, that's how it's lined up. If they get there, then he would start. That would be my expectation.

00:20:39
Speaker 10: Joe Ryan would be not quite an emergency guy, but not someone you would expect to see start a game.

00:20:46
Speaker 9: He just has made one spring training start coming off that lower back inflammation. He pitched three strong innings in that spring training start, but he is not.

00:20:55
Speaker 10: Built up for anything like a start in a WBC.

00:20:58
Speaker 9: I would think it would be one innings max for him, if indeed they get that far. But guys, we're talking about a team that just did lose to Italy, faces Canada tonight and then if it wins, would face the winner of the Dominican Republic Korea quarterfinal in Miami on Sunday, And regardless of who wins that game, I think the Dominican is, of course favored.

00:21:20
Speaker 10: It's not going to be easy. So I think if there's one thing we've all learned here, including the manager of.

00:21:26
Speaker 9: This team and the players on this team, don't look ahead one game at a time.

00:21:30
Speaker 2: Ken, what has the strategy changed for the US Because Clay Home's gone, right, Matthew Boyd back gone, now they have Joe Ryant coming in their Their playing originally was kind of to piggyback and and use relievers when they could if they needed them. Has that strategy changed now they're hoping Logan Web probably goes five innings at least tonight with this new pitch count, and then they can then they can deploy their relievers however they won, and then they you know, then they get the off day and then they can then they have schemes going for hopefully five or six innings, and then they can use the kind of the same guys because it won't be back to back days, right, So has the strategy for the US changed a little bit after what happened, especially in the Italy game where they were kind of stuck with who they had McLean and then Yarborough and then they were like, oh man, who do we pitch next?

00:22:14
Speaker 3: Or has it changed a little bit?

00:22:17
Speaker 9: I don't know aj that it's changed as much as circumstances have changed. And what has happened here is a number of pitchers, horse starters, Matthew Boyd being one of them, Clay Holmes being another, Michael Waka a third. Those guys have to get ready for the season and they cannot be guaranteed innings at this point. At this point, Mark de Ross is going to go with whoever is pitching best, and the piggyback system that we've seen in other games does not really apply in the knockout round. They're going for it, right, So that is one reason why the starters are shuffling out, some more relievers are shuffling in, and yes, they want as many bullpen arms as they can get. Someone asked yesterday if it's a blowout one way or the other, might we see Clayton kershaw tonight and DeRosa's answer basically was I've got ten relievers, so probably the answer that would be no.

00:23:11
Speaker 10: And that is why because they.

00:23:12
Speaker 9: Are obviously in this particular situation now as opposed to pool play when there is less urgency.

00:23:19
Speaker 10: There's certainly urgency, but now you have to win every night.

00:23:23
Speaker 6: Was all this ancillary's stuff with the what he said miss bo postgame? Now you know other comments that were different in things taken construed. Has it been a distraction maybe for the manager and staff, but you feel like it's been a distraction for the players when you talk to.

00:23:39
Speaker 9: Them, I would not say it's been a distraction for the players, And in talking to some of them yesterday, I wouldn't say some of them were not aware of it, but they're certainly not hanging on social media every day and looking at it and just went wow, look at what's going on. That's not kind of how they roll for the most part, so they know what needs to be done here. Has it been a distraction for DeRosa and his staff, Yes, I would say that it's occupied some of their time, no question about it. They have talked about it, and DeRosa's gotten a lot of support from people within the USA Baseball not just of course the players, but the coaches and others. And he's had some people reach out to him friends of his of course throughout the game as well. So yeah, it's been a distraction certainly for DeRosa, there's no question about that. I would not say it's really affected the players.

00:24:33
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think it's time to move on from all that and let's go to try and win a ballgame.

00:24:39
Speaker 5: For me, my question to you is Aaron Judge is probably a guy that Canada is probably gonna try and stay away from in my opinion, I mean, I feel like anybody should try and stay away from him. Who's that guy behind him that's going to have to step up? You know, they have so many guys that can play that are you know, productive that have been there before. Who's the one guy in your opinion, like, hey man, it's put up her shut up time here, let's go.

00:25:04
Speaker 9: I would say Bryce Harper, and I don't know that I would put it quite in that sense. Todd put up her shut up up, but he's two for ten. Didn't play in the last game, DeRosa said. One reason I didn't play him. He's struggling a little bit. I thought, get him off his feet, give him a day to work and just kind of get away and he'll come back strong. Now, of course, they put themselves in a position where they might not have had Bryce Harper playing.

00:25:28
Speaker 10: At all if not for Team Italy. But here we are. Bryce Harper is a big game guy.

00:25:34
Speaker 9: We know that, and I would expect that he is someone who is going to want to play a major role.

00:25:40
Speaker 4: Now.

00:25:41
Speaker 10: The lineup is so deep.

00:25:43
Speaker 9: We can be talking about this with any player. Cal Raley, let's see him do something. Bobby with Junior is capable of taking over a game at any time, as we saw against Mexico and right down the line.

00:25:55
Speaker 10: So I don't know that anyone has to put up her shut up.

00:25:57
Speaker 9: But Harper is the guy that I'm interested to see tonight, just how he goes about it and how he fares.

00:26:04
Speaker 6: Talking to the players on either side. Have anyone brought up the fact that team USA Women's Hockey and Canada Women's hockey played against each other and the men played against each other.

00:26:16
Speaker 7: Have they brought that up?

00:26:17
Speaker 6: Because that's what the fans talk about, So it's interesting to hear what the players have been saying to you.

00:26:23
Speaker 9: Yes, that has come up, and yesterday some of the Canadian players were talking about it, and DeRosa mentioned that Jack Hughes reached out I believe to him, and then he's voted the text to a group you know, the group chat that they have, and seems that there are going to be some jerseys Warren Hockey jerseys worn by the US players, either in BP or around the clubhouse something today along those lines.

00:26:48
Speaker 10: Yesterday Josh Naylor was wearing a Paul Koreer jersey. Now Paul Korea is I don't believe active at he Warre in hockey. I'm not a hockey fan, so don't hold me to this.

00:26:56
Speaker 9: But he's been wearing a different jersey of a Canadian hockey legend every day during their workouts. So yes, that is certainly something that has come up. It's kind of a cool PostScript here to what happened in the Olympics, and we'll see how it plays out.

00:27:12
Speaker 2: And we're I know, Canada, they have to be Canada first, the USA does to get to the semifinals, Dominican has to be Korea. What kind of matchup will that be if it comes to USA Dominican in Miami semifinals, both basically all star teams.

00:27:31
Speaker 3: How great?

00:27:32
Speaker 2: Listen, we got to get there, I know before everyone says, but how amazing will that game be if it comes to fruition?

00:27:40
Speaker 9: Amazing AJ And yes, we've got to get there, as you just said, But it is something that I would be definitely looking forward to, and it would be something that would be a lot of fun to cover. And just the atmosphere in Miami. It's not as if you were playing this game in Houston. It's a different.

00:27:58
Speaker 10: World in Miami. Miami, my view, is kind.

00:28:00
Speaker 9: Of the capital of Latin America, and there are people from all different Latin American countries in Miami, a great number of Dominicans, of course, and it would just be something else to see, particularly given what we've seen so far from the games involving the Dominican Republic in Miami, just how electric they've been, how intense and passionate the fans have been.

00:28:22
Speaker 10: So that game would be a blast, no doubt.

00:28:25
Speaker 9: And the fact that Skeins would be starting would just add an element to it because here is or here would be Paul Skins against Vlad Junior Tatist, Junior Manny Machado, Katel Marte, Heraldo Podomo right down the line, all of these great great Dominican players, Junior and Caminar, and I'm sure I'm missing a few.

00:28:44
Speaker 10: So yeah, that would be something to see.

00:28:47
Speaker 2: Okay, so we're talking Dominican, we're talking USA. Now everyone talks about the Dominican and their home run celebrations, and then there's this kind of this, I don't want to call it a false narrative by people like you Ken that say the US isn't having any fun. Right, they don't have the home run celebrations.

00:29:03
Speaker 3: They don't have not said that at all, because they don't have the bats, they don't have the bat flips.

00:29:07
Speaker 2: Right, So if the USA does play Dominican, and let's say Aaron Judge is one of the most stoic people we've ever seen hits a big home run.

00:29:15
Speaker 3: Will we get a bat flip?

00:29:16
Speaker 2: Will we get a smile out of Aaron Judge as he's running around the bases. Will we get a little extra like the Dominican the Venezuelan players do, I mean they hit a home run, it is a pure party around the bases.

00:29:26
Speaker 9: First of all, I believe we were on the broadcast together the other day when we addressed this, and I did say that the US players were playing with joy, and they might show it a little bit different. And we also saw in the Mexico game when Judge hit that two run home or early, he gestured troyed the dugout and flipped his bat and looked more excited.

00:29:46
Speaker 10: Than you usually see Aaron Judge.

00:29:48
Speaker 9: So the false narratives, you're asking the question and inventing the narratives yourself.

00:29:52
Speaker 10: Anyway, they just showed joy in a different way.

00:29:57
Speaker 9: And this is a cool cultural element here that kind of defines the different countries. And that's the beauty of the World Baseball Classic.

00:30:06
Speaker 10: It's the beauty of diversity.

00:30:08
Speaker 9: You have different points of view, different ways of approaching things, and I don't know that it makes the US players any less joyful or any less I don't know what the word would be, even just as I don't know that you can criticize the Dominican players for the way they act. That's just who they are, man, And it bothers me when people want homogenous kind of reactions, everyone's got to act. The saying it bothered me in the old days, Oh my gosh, can't flip a bat. It's equally kind of silly now to say, why aren't these guys flipping bats? So I don't know, AJ take your narrative and you know, just talk somewhere else.

00:30:47
Speaker 6: I should have known this before I asked the question, how many WBCs have you covered?

00:30:52
Speaker 10: All of them? Every one of them?

00:30:55
Speaker 6: Is this the most vibrant WBC. Vibrant isn't the right word, but is it the Have they just continued to get better with them because the talent increases, or do you feel like there was another one that like sticks out where you're like, ah, man, that one was a little bit better than this one because of this.

00:31:12
Speaker 10: The last one, to me was incredible.

00:31:15
Speaker 9: And the reason I say that, eric is because every game, at least in the later portion of the tournament were really exciting. And I might be exaggerating at some but I remember just the Mexico Japan game in the semifinal, What a game that was. The US Venezuela game in the quarterfinal, that was an incredible game, and those kinds of moments is what makes a tournament so electric. We haven't seen quite that consistency of great games, I guess at this point, but that's not to say it won't happen. And we're in the quarterfinal round now. The games I just mentioned were all quarterfinals or later. And of course the US Japan game to decide that classic was so the last one to me was really special, but this one has every potential to be the same.

00:32:07
Speaker 3: Well, Ken, thank you.

00:32:08
Speaker 2: You can see Ken and I on the Fox one app and at the WBC on Big Fox the next few nights. And also Ken, by the way, it's not a false narrative. If you invent it, then it becomes true because you invent it. But I am here for the bat flips, I am here for the fun, I am here for the parties. And listen, if you watch A Venezuela, A Dominican or any of those games, if you're not smiling, when they hit a home run. No matter what team you're rooting for, then you're doing it wrong. So thank you Ken for joining us. Go write your paper, your term paper that you have to do by the end of the day, and we'll be right back. But don't forget to check out the night's postgame show with Kratz, Polar and Scott Broun after the US Canada game right here on the Foul Territory Network. And this episode is brought to you by Fox One. Fox one is now live stream all your Fox favorites together in one place, from MLB postseason to NFL on Fox to Big Noon Saturdays with Fox One. You get it all live. Start your seven day free trial today. Offers are subject to change. Go to Fox one for complete terms and conditions. Fox one streaming Now.

00:33:08
Speaker 6: Now we get to welcome John Birdie, native of Troy, Michigan, but today Italy Italian as Italian can get John, You've been having an incredible, incredible tournament for the four and zero Italians. What is this vibe feeling like and where's the team going from here?

00:33:29
Speaker 11: Yeah, I mean it's been a ton of fun. I haven't had this much fun playing baseball in a long time, and we have a really good group of guys and it's been a lot of fun to be around. And so, you know, we're taking it one day at a time. We got to work out today and preparing for Puerto Rico.

00:33:45
Speaker 4: Hey, so you look, you look a little sluggish. You look a little tired.

00:33:48
Speaker 5: Have you not been getting a little bit of that that espresso, cappuccino whatever you guys are drinking over there?

00:33:55
Speaker 11: Uh, probably having too much of it. So I'm staying up too late. So uh, that's good, that's fun. I don't know how viny three of them, so I'm not sure what time he fell asleep the other night.

00:34:06
Speaker 4: Yeah, I wanted to ask about that a little bit.

00:34:08
Speaker 5: Who came up with the idea and who's making the batch there, because sometimes it looks like guys are a little fire too fired up, you know what I'm saying.

00:34:17
Speaker 1: Yeah, we had a little trial and error.

00:34:20
Speaker 11: I'm not sure exactly who came up with it, but uh, the first first couple of times we did it, we were making it right away and so guys were taking it and just burning their mouth. So we kind of came up with a little system of making it. Maybe a little sooner, or adding a little cold water to it to to help help help go down easier.

00:34:41
Speaker 2: John Kratch mentioned you're from Michigan, okay, And I get that your your your.

00:34:46
Speaker 3: Heritage is Italian.

00:34:48
Speaker 2: But was there a little bit of you rooting for the USA to get through so you guys might get a chance to play him again or were you just like completely Italian screw the USA.

00:35:00
Speaker 11: I mean, I can't say that part, but no, it's just we're going out here to win. So whatever happened happened. So I had some buddies from the other team texting me and we're just having some fun with it. But now we came out to win every game, and so fortunately for the US it worked out.

00:35:20
Speaker 6: One of the things that AJ's brought up is like the US is a little hamstrung with their pitching. Can you attest to being on another team besides the American team that your pitching is hamstrung too, just because of all the regulations or do you feel like do you feel like Francisco Savelli has carte blanche and he's just able to throw out there whoever he wants to throw out there.

00:35:43
Speaker 11: No, Unfortunately, yeah, we have a ton of restrictions as well. Just most of our pitchers are affiliated with an organization, so yeah, it can be kind of tough to maneuver. But our starting pitching has done a great job for us and getting deeper into games, which has been which has been huge, So we hope for the same come Saturday.

00:36:06
Speaker 5: Real quick, if you don't mind moving your camera over just a little bit maybe the other way.

00:36:10
Speaker 4: Sorry, perfect.

00:36:14
Speaker 5: My question to you is you got all these guys coming with Italian heritage. You guys come together, heard the flights are great, everybody come together. What's one guy on this team who you you know, maybe heard of or haven't heard of where you're.

00:36:27
Speaker 4: Kind of glueing too, You're like, you're you're.

00:36:30
Speaker 5: Hanging out with all the time, like because there's a lot of different animals on this team, there's a lot of different perspectives.

00:36:37
Speaker 4: Give me a guy that you think.

00:36:38
Speaker 5: Right now or that you know that you're you're getting even friendlier with.

00:36:43
Speaker 11: Yeah, I mean, honestly, it's just crazy how close we've gotten in such a quick period of time just with the whole team in general. And so I don't know if there is one name. It's just been great to get to know everybody, and obviously Vinnie's got the big personality and he's been the leader of this clubhouse and he gets all the credit in the world for having us as close as we are and helping this be such a fun experience for everybody.

00:37:07
Speaker 7: You guys are four to oh so far.

00:37:09
Speaker 6: If it doesn't end up in a championship, is this an unsuccessful tournament for Team Italy.

00:37:16
Speaker 11: I mean, we're not looking at it that way. We're just trying to take it, you know, one day at a time. And obviously the last two games probably were the two biggest wins in Italian baseball history, and so that's been tremendous. But we haven't reached our goal yet, and our our goal is to get to Miami and beyond. So we have a you know, really tough team coming up with Puerto Rico, and we gotta be ready for him.

00:37:41
Speaker 3: John Vinni.

00:37:42
Speaker 2: If Vinnie is the leader, so he would be the godfather, right, he's the godfather. He's doing the double the double kisses who's like the capo? If he's the godfather, who are his capo's and his consiglieri? Who are his underlings that he's teaching the Italian way.

00:37:58
Speaker 1: Yeah.

00:37:59
Speaker 11: I mean, we have a bunch of young guys that are that are really talented that Sam Antonacci has just been a stone cold killer for us. Andrew Fisher has been great. We have a ton of young guys and I'm probably missing out on a handful of them. So they've all been asking a lot of questions and trying to learn as best they can. And they're extremely talented, so they're trying to lean on the veteran guys like Vinnie and myself and Attavino and some of the guys that we have here, and so it's been a good mix.

00:38:32
Speaker 5: I want to talk a little bit about Andrew Fisher. Jersey Boy lives down the street actually from me. He's like fifteen to twenty minutes. I've been talking to him a lot. He's saying this is probably the best well, it is the best experience for him because he's a younger guy. He's a really good baseball player.

00:38:49
Speaker 4: Talker.

00:38:50
Speaker 5: Just talk about this experience and you know, not only just being on the Italian team, but just they call it an exhibition. This is an exhibition to me, this is more baseball at h go go into how awesome this has been and you know, you guys are exceeding all expectations here.

00:39:07
Speaker 4: Man, to be honest with you, so talk a little bit about that.

00:39:11
Speaker 1: Yeah.

00:39:11
Speaker 11: Like I said, it's honestly the most fun I've had playing this game in a long time. And it's their playoff atmospheres. It feels like a playoff game. You know, this doesn't feel like March. It feels like October. And so it's awesome for especially young guys like Fish and a handful of them to get this kind of experience that they can lean on hopefully when you know, down there further down in their careers, when when they're playing in October for the respective team. So yeah, the crowds have been great, especially the last couple of nights, and we expect to have a pretty big crowd again on Saturday and then hopefully onto Miami.

00:39:46
Speaker 6: All right, we're going to talk about you. What the heck, man, why do you not have a job yet? Is our guy Storm not doing enough work?

00:39:54
Speaker 1: Now?

00:39:55
Speaker 4: He is? He is?

00:39:55
Speaker 11: He's bugging me all the time. So I just h yeah, I just want to enjoy the w BC, enjoy this experience and kind of see what comes from it. And sit down with my family and if there's an opportunity that excites us, then then we'll go from there.

00:40:12
Speaker 6: What does that what does that look like in a sense of what is your off season look like because of how your season ended last year and then going into it knowing what you can still give. What kind of conversations do you have or is it all storm your agent storm, cursion bomb, big shout out, also my agent.

00:40:29
Speaker 1: He's gonna love that. He's gonna text me about that.

00:40:32
Speaker 11: No, it's been spend some time with the family, which has been really good, and I have a young daughter, so been fun to be be at home for that, and then just kind of started training again like a regular off season and seeing what was kind of out there, and when this opportunity arose, it was a no brainer for me and super pumped. I did it And you know, we'll make those other life decisions after after this is over.

00:40:57
Speaker 2: John, John, does this help or hurt you? You think, because I'm like, Eric, well, how do you not have a big league job. You're a big league player, You're going in the WBC, You're hitting homers off big league pitchers. This isn't you know this isn't you're facing college guys. I mean, you're facing legitimate big league dudes in big games, right, I mean, this isn't. Again, there's thirty thousand people forty there's five million people watching these games every night on Fox. So do you think this helps your case for a job next year or do you think teams look at it and go, ah, it doesn't really matter?

00:41:28
Speaker 3: Because to me this matters.

00:41:29
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean to me, it matters.

00:41:31
Speaker 11: And so I'm playing like it's, you know, the World Series, you know, and we're taking it that seriously. And I think as competitors that's all you can do. Anyways, I kind of treat every game, whether it's a spring training game or regular season playoff game, doesn't matter. It's you know, you're trying to win. You're competing against the guys across from you, and so I think it helps. But I'm not too worried about that part of it. So they'll see what they see, and you know, if if an opportunity comes, then then great.

00:42:01
Speaker 4: You kind of alluded to a Puerto Rico.

00:42:03
Speaker 5: I mean, have you guys talked a little bit about the game plan or how is it in there? How Survelli is he just hey, guys, go out and play, or you guys have a little bit of a game plan. Who's throwing How you guys kind of perceive this game, and how do you feel going into playing it? You know, a really good team Molina's team in Puerto Rico.

00:42:23
Speaker 11: Yeah, yeah, no, Servey does a great job with with this group of keeping it loose. But at the same time, we still have some meetings and stuff like that just to be aware of certain things, you know, on the advanced side of it, and having our hitters meeting and stuff like that. So now we'll be we'll be as prepared as we can be. We know Puerto Rico is a great team when we just faced USA in Mexico, so it'll be another really good test. And there's all really good teams left, so there's no no easy game here and we're excited about the challenge.

00:42:57
Speaker 6: Jack hagleone, I would say Firmer Deny most power on the team.

00:43:02
Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, I mean he just its balls really really hard.

00:43:08
Speaker 6: Okay, so we'll tell Vinny that he has more power than quote from John Birdie.

00:43:12
Speaker 7: That's totally fine. I love that.

00:43:14
Speaker 6: But what do you when you look at a guy like that when you look at a guy like that who's just coming into the big leagues, it took you a long time to get to the big leagues. Does it make you feel like the game of baseball because you're playing on an international stage and you said how much fun it is. The game of baseball can be played by so many different people. And Jack Hagle own looks like the prototypical chiseled out baseball player playing with your blue hair John Birdie old age, all on the same field and you both are having success.

00:43:46
Speaker 1: That's the beauty of baseball.

00:43:47
Speaker 11: You know, abilities come in all shapes and sizes, and obviously it would be nice to be his size. It would have maybe helped me get to the big leagues a little quicker, but you know, I wouldn't trade my journey for anything. And he's got a long, long career ahead of him, and it's been fun to watch.

00:44:09
Speaker 3: Crouch.

00:44:09
Speaker 2: John Krauts has a crush on CAGs. I'm just letting you know, just so you know that I'll let him know. That's all right.

00:44:18
Speaker 6: We actually that's perfect because I'm the one that's supposed to thank you to leave, and I'll be the one to say that I said that, look at look at agent. He can't even stop smiling, like he's like, he's blushing right now. He is the biggest Florida Gator fan. He never went to Florida. He is the biggest Jack Cagly owned fan. When he was sitting next to him, so think about this when you sit next to tags in the dugout or a practice today, he was just looking at him the whole time.

00:44:43
Speaker 1: He's like, wow, Wow, just blushing.

00:44:47
Speaker 7: He was blushing.

00:44:48
Speaker 6: We were at Kansas City Camp. We almost got kicked out. He now has a restraining order. He can't get within fifty feet of CAGs.

00:44:54
Speaker 3: Family friends, crouds. You should try, You should try having family friends.

00:44:58
Speaker 6: Nervous, nervous. Now he's his family into it. He knows his family follows him on Facebook, but AJ so that's only has his Facebook. I appreciate you. We are as much as we were cheering for you guys to win. As Americans, we definitely love to see you guys beat Puerto Rico, continue to move on, and we're cheering for you no matter what happens.

00:45:21
Speaker 7: So thank you for coming on.

00:45:23
Speaker 1: Appreciate it, guys.

00:45:31
Speaker 6: This is our favorite time right now to check out how much money Todd is gonna make us when we check out our money bags.

00:45:37
Speaker 7: But he's not up there right now.

00:45:39
Speaker 6: That's okay, Scottie Braun's up ninety three, everyone else's even. So it's positive early on in the season. This is spring training for everybody. So we're gonna go over our picks for tonight. We'll go first Todd, then AJ, and then I'll bring us up with the coin flip of whether I'm right or wrong.

00:45:57
Speaker 5: Yeah, So, I mean, for me, I alluded to this earlier. I think team I said wins the game. Do I think they win the game convincingly?

00:46:05
Speaker 4: I don't.

00:46:05
Speaker 5: I think they have a good time playing. I think they win a close ball game. So I'm gonna go Canada plus four and a half, you know, hoping that USA comes through here. But Canada has one of their better teams they've had in a long time. A lot of guys are professionals, and we'll see what happens there.

00:46:24
Speaker 4: Well.

00:46:25
Speaker 2: As much as we're riotting for the USA, Todd, I don't mind that, bet. I actually thought about going that we're out because I think it will be closer than the experts say with the minus four. Now, so I actually love that bettab but I'm going a different route here. I just think there's gonna be a lot of run scored in this game on both sides. I know Logan Web, but I think one of the Nailer boys will get a big hit. I'm just taking the over. I'm going over nine and a half. That seems like a low number for me. With the power on these two teams and the pitching on these two teams, I just feel like there's gonna be some run scored. And I think Canada can score runs with the USA. That's why I like Todd's bet. But I'm going over nine and a half and that's minus one fifteen.

00:47:02
Speaker 6: I mean, let's let's see if we can see if we can parlay that jone or something. I mean, that's some extra so I'll take care of that for the boys. But I'm going the exact same. I'm going over nine and a half minus one fifteen, so let's make.

00:47:16
Speaker 7: Sure everybody gets a nice little victory.

00:47:20
Speaker 4: I love that.

00:47:20
Speaker 6: So with bet MGM, the world's top baseball stars go head to head in WBC. Join the excitement and make make your WBC moment When you bet with Boosted Odds. Activate your Boosted Odds token for any WBC bet and you'll receive a bigger payout if your bet wins. Gambling problem or concern called Wayne Hunter Gambler.

00:47:53
Speaker 2: Well, thank you to the Red Sox for having me and having Mark here at Red Sox Camp down a beautiful four myers. I know you guys are else because the sun is out and it's about eighty five degrees. And thank God for this tent that we bought last year. But thank you Red Sox. Thank you to Peyton Toley, Alex Cora, Carlos Darvaas.

00:48:10
Speaker 3: Who else do we have?

00:48:11
Speaker 2: We had Ken Rosenthal, we had Richard Grisham from bird TP John Birdie right, So thank you to all our guests.

00:48:18
Speaker 3: It was a wonderful show today. What do we have for krats? Hats?

00:48:21
Speaker 7: Oh?

00:48:22
Speaker 6: I'm just glad Scott's not here, that's all. I figured you'd say it, but we're not. We're missing him, but he'll be back.

00:48:29
Speaker 4: That sucks.

00:48:30
Speaker 6: I got to talk to the new air guys. He gave me a little bit of the insight about you might see these hats next year, but we're not sure. We're not sure, so it's been a good seller, and it's been. I got a lot of great compliments about all the different different logos that they're putting on this year's spring training hats.

00:48:50
Speaker 2: And by the way, they have new batting practice hats coming. I saw the Tigers one. You know who's gonna love it, Producer Lady. It has one of her favorite logos on the front. Oh, it was sick.

00:48:59
Speaker 3: It was sick.

00:49:00
Speaker 2: I'm just saying new era. But don't forget the post game today. Crausy, you're on the post game tonight, right, Todd, are you on the post game?

00:49:06
Speaker 4: No, Scott tonight, not tonight.

00:49:09
Speaker 2: Kevin polar USA Canada. After USA crushes Canada, we can talk about it. But only by three runs, right, only by three runs. It's going to be ten to just saying or four all right post game for every team USA game. Thank everybody here at Red Sox camp. That's it for foul Territory today. Everyone enjoy their afternoon. Let's watch baseball, real meaningful baseball tonight.