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Team USA is onto the World Baseball Classic finals, but not without a smidge of controversy first. Plus: Ken takes us inside Paul Skenes’ circle, and Italy-Venezuela play for the final finals spot tonight.
I’m Levi Weaver, here with Ken Rosenthal. Welcome to The Windup!
WBC Semifinal: USA advances, but … yikes, that call
By now, you’ve heard: Team USA defeated the Dominican Republic 2-1 to advance to the World Baseball Classic final on Tuesday.
The semifinal was baseball at its finest — there were home runs by some of the game’s biggest young stars (Junior Caminero, Gunnar Henderson and Roman Anthony), home run robberies (Julio Rodriguez), more defensive gems from Bobby Witt Jr. and each of the otherworldly lineups were largely held in check by gutsy pitching performances from both sides of the box score.
I need to state this clearly: Team USA definitely earned this win. Paul Skenes was as advertised. Aaron Judge absolutely hosed Fernando Tatis Jr. at third base to end the bottom of the third inning. The Dominicans stranded eight runners on base. What I’m about to write is not suggesting that Team USA got a cheap win … but now that I’ve said that, loud and clear:
I’m not sure you’ll see a better advertisement for the ABS (Automated Ball-Strike System) than the way the game ended.
Let’s set the scene: Mason Miller on the mound, ninth inning, USA leads 2-1. After a strikeout of Caminero, Miller appeared to lose the strike zone. He issued a five-pitch walk to Rodriguez, who advanced to second base on a wild pitch, then to third on a groundout by pinch-hitter Oneil Cruz.
Two outs, runner on third. Winner moves on. The drama was delectable.
As Miller piped in triple-digit heaters, Geraldo Perdomo was battling. When the count got to 1-2, he laid off a 101 mph fastball, then an 88 mph slider to make it a full count.
It was electric Baseball Opera, and Perdomo and Miller performed two encores in the form of fouled-off triple-digit fastballs.
And then Miller threw a slider that dipped well below the zone. It was a hard-earned walk by Perdomo.
Except it wasn’t. Home plate umpire Cory Blaser — who had called out Juan Soto on an obviously low third strike in the eighth inning — called it strike three. The game was over. The Dominicans were eliminated from the WBC. Team USA was moving on.
We can’t know what would have happened next. Miller was at 22 pitches. Tatis was in the on-deck circle. Would it have been a walk-off homer? A single to send the game to extra innings? Or maybe we would just have gotten another 60 seconds of this electricity before Miller retired Tatis to end it.
All fodder for the folder of pointless hypotheticals.
It’s the sort of injustice that ABS will solve in MLB games, starting this season. It’s just a shame we didn’t get it about two weeks earlier. As Evan Drellich points out: If they can get this right in a meaningless spring-training game, why not for such a high-profile one?
It was an amazing game, the sort of drama that usually doesn’t emerge from its hibernation until late September, at earliest. When it ended, I felt like I’d been to the gym.
And yes — Team USA absolutely earned the win. But we all deserved a better ending.
How we got here:
Now over to Ken for a note on Skenes.
Ken’s Notebook: How Skenes’ background keeps things ‘in perspective’
From my latest column:
MIAMI — The semifinal between USA and Dominican Republic was a game that featured perhaps the greatest assortment of major-league talent ever gathered on one field; it was a game that, like Game 7 of last year’s World Series, was full of twists, nuances and sequences that will remain indelible.
The night included exquisite defense, magnificent pitching from both bullpens, the tying homer by a surprising entry in the U.S. lineup, Henderson, and a go-ahead homer by the youngest American player, Anthony, 21.
Skenes, 23, is the second youngest, though he doesn’t show it. Amid all the noise and hide-your-eyes drama, he offered no hint of tension, no sign of relenting.
“I think that’s what the academy did for him,” said Skenes’ former teammate at Air Force, Chase Spencer. “At the end of it all, there’s so much mental growth and stability that comes from that. It shows every day on the field.”
Skenes spent two years as a pitcher and catcher at Air Force before transferring to LSU and focusing solely on pitching. Spencer was also a two-way player at the academy, pitching and playing center field. Aaron Reyes, Skenes’ other former teammate in attendance, was a fellow catcher.
Both graduated from the academy last May, and they are now in pilot training in Daytona Beach, Fla. They had not seen Skenes pitch in person since they were together at Air Force. And the whole night, Reyes said, they were awestruck by the electric environment and their former teammate.
From the moment Skenes accepted Mark DeRosa’s invitation to join the team, he has talked about honoring servicemen and servicewomen around the world with his participation. Two of his uncles served in the Navy. Another was in the Coast Guard. A sense of duty has fueled Skenes throughout the WBC.
“I got a text from one of my teammates at Air Force. I don’t know where he’s stationed right now,” Skenes said. “But he said he was going to wake up at 3 a.m. to watch the game. It puts it into perspective. … It’s heavy stuff. For us, playing a game against a bunch of people that we know and we play all the time, it’s heavy.”
Skenes will turn 24 on May 29. He has already won a National League Rookie of the Year and Cy Young Award. And Sunday night, he wore a suit to the ballpark, ready to face a lineup featuring one fierce slugger after another. All business, as always.
“That’s something about Paul. He’s always been so focused and determined in everything he does,” Spencer said. “You can really see a focus or a mentality shift with him from the moment he gets here. He’s ready to go from pitch No. 1.”
Back to you, Levi.
Tonight: Italy vs. Venezuela
When Team USA takes the field in Miami for the final on Tuesday, it’ll either face Venezuela or Italy. The two, who both pulled off upset wins this weekend, meet tonight in the other semifinal (8 p.m. ET, FS1).
Italy’s magic, undefeated run continued with an 8-6 win over Puerto Rico. Its offense has been unstoppable, including a victory over USA in pool play that put the Americans in peril of missing the quarterfinals; the Italians then beat Mexico to lend USA a helping hand in the tiebreaker scenarios.
Venezuela is a more storied baseball country, but certainly is not the team many expected to await the winner of Italy-Puerto Rico.
That would be Japan, of course. But with a go-ahead three-run home run in the sixth inning on Saturday, Wilyer Abreu was the star of Venezuela’s upset win over Japan, the reigning champs.
Here’s a preview of tonight’s matchup between the two giant slayers. The Italians have become the darlings of the WBC — Cinderella sounds like an Italian name, come to think of it — and Venezuela has a chance to (further) prove that it belongs in the conversation with USA, Japan and the Dominican Republic.
Oh, and for all the talk about the American players on Team Italy, this game represents another fun angle: Italy’s manager Francisco Cervelli? He’s a native Venezuelan.
Handshakes and High Fives
Jim Bowden has one player from each of the 30 teams who has turned heads this spring.
Mets prospect Carson Benge has had a brilliant spring training. Tim Britton says it’s time to put him on the Opening Day roster. Meanwhile, Francisco Lindor (hamate) is expressing confidence about Opening Day.
The Cubs are counting on Moisés Ballesteros to help replace departed star Kyle Tucker’s offensive production. After Seiya Suzuki’s WBC injury, they might have even more to replace.
Jayson Stark says the key to success in Atlanta this year might just be leading the league in bounce-backs.
The newly-formed WPBL (Women’s Professional Baseball League) will begin its inaugural season in August. But first: a two-day event with workouts and an intrasquad game, at Red Sox camp.
Carlos Lagrange has been getting all the hype, but could another Yankees pitching prospect make the Opening Day roster?
There are four groups in the running to buy the Padres. Final bids are expected next month.
Former big-leaguer Dmitri Young once amassed one of the world’s best baseball card collections. Here are his collecting tips.
One recurring question about big-leaguers playing in the 2028 Olympics has been: “What will the non-Olympians do with such a long break?” We may have our answer.
Most-clicked in our last newsletter: Team USA reconfiguring its roster, replacing some pitchers, ahead of its matchup against Canada.
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