WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: POOL C - GREAT BRITAIN VS UNITED STATES

March 11, 2023

Mark DeRosa

Chase Field

Team United States

Pregame Press Conference

Q. Did you get a chance to watch the previous game?

MARK DEROSA: Yes, watched the whole thing.

Q. What's the take now you see how competitive this bracket is going to be?

MARK DEROSA: I think that was discussed in the hitters meeting right after we came inside. We will take no one for granted. We just can't, not in this game. I just wanted these guys to understand, no one has to impress anybody on this team. These guys are one of one at every position they play at.

So, play the game, pass the baton. There's another All-Star, future Hall of Famer hitting right behind you. No one feels like they have to be the hero here.

But yes, well aware. Look at San Francisco during that exhibition game. Come out flat. Everyone's having individual A Bs. Let them hang around. Guys are on pitch counts. You can get beat. We're aware of that.

Q. What actually happened with Raley? And why Aaron Loup?

MARK DEROSA: I guess after -- he threw the heck out of the ball against the Angels. He had like a seven-pitch inning, and he was getting a workout in after and felt a little tinge in his hamstring.

So obviously proper protocol is to contact the Mets. They wanted him to have an MRI. That took place. There was, I guess, a minor strain. They wanted him to come back.

I hate it for Brooks. He's going to be here. He's going to be announced. We wanted him to stay for Saturday and Sunday at least before he had to report back to Port St. Lucie.

We had a long talk about it. I feel absolutely terrible for him. Similar path. Wasn't a can't-miss guy. I completely understand that he had to work his tail off to get on a roster like this, and he's done it and wanted to compete.

And he would have played a huge part for us. The guy has really good numbers. So I'm sad for him.

The reason the pivot to Aaron Loup, he was my teammate in 2013. I know Loupy, not easy to walk into this clubhouse, especially a couple days late. I knew he could handle it. That guy has ice water in his veins. I knew he'd throw his bag down and assimilate perfect.

And he's been throwing the ball well in Angels camp. It was a pretty easy decision for me to reach out to him first and see where he was at. And he jumped at it.

Q. Along those lines, I was curious how it works when you have to backfill a position like that. Is there like a taxi squad or a list of names that have already been cleared? Or do you have to go through the whole process again?

MARK DEROSA: There was like a provisional roster. And then there's names discussed kind of as we were putting this thing together from jump. So when that happened, we kind of had a few names on the board.

Certainly wanted it to be somebody who was in camp in Arizona so it would be quick to get him here. So that made the guys in Florida a little bit kind of a little bit more difficult to look at.

But my history with Loupy, it goes back. So I thought it was an easy move.

Q. You had the exhibition games to manage. But what does this feel like for you? How does it compare maybe your first game, (indiscernible) players?

MARK DEROSA: I told the guys yesterday before we worked out, I needed the exhibition games as much as they did. I really did. I felt like the game was a little fast, San Francisco -- you're just trying to monitor, keeping them healthy, getting them at-bats, getting to know minor league guys from other teams and what they can do and what they can't do.

So I thought the game slowed down way more for me against the Angels. I'm going to lean on my coaching staff. We vetted this a million different ways.

I think, with the pitch counts, you can script it a little bit better or have the opportunity to do that. I don't necessarily know how much gut's going to be involved.

If Waino is cruising tonight, I'm still going to have to go get him before 65 pitches is up regardless. So we've kind of looked at it a million different ways.

Q. In the early part of the tournament, in the innings from Asia, the emotional level has been really cranked up. The crowd's have been amazing. The emotional levels earlier today. What's the emotional commitment and emotional climate really in your clubhouse right now?

MARK DEROSA: They're ready to go, honestly. I made it a point. I kind of felt like when I came in, the first day they reported, I kind of wanted to, kind of wake them up to why they were here and kind of get them to buy into team and show some energy, and kind of get them to understand that this is a sprint.

Then I think through the two exhibition games you're just trying to stay healthy, let them get their ABs. And we kind of woke back up yesterday and had another team meeting. So they're ready to go.

Q. This is a preview a couple days away, so I apologize. But Freddie Freeman's name must have come up during all this. He indicated he wanted to play for Canada, honor his mom. What were the conversations, if any?

MARK DEROSA: I actually went to dinner the first night out here. I got out here on the 3rd, and myself and Brian McCann went to dinner with Freddie and Jason Heyward. I've known Freddie forever, living in Atlanta for 20-plus years and watching him become, like, one of the best players in the game.

Certainly based on what we see -- I'm not going to let Freddie beat us.

Q. But playing for Canada, you understood?

MARK DEROSA: Completely understood why he's doing that.

Q. The United States has always been the favorite in the Classic, among Classic baseball. They have been 4-1 by Japan, 1-1 by Dominican Republic, and the last one the United States. What expectations does the United States have to defend this title that they won in 2017? And do the players that were called are the best that they have in the Major League Baseball, they're all on great teams.

MARK DEROSA: I think to answer that question, I think we're motivated by the fact that we're not the favorite in this tournament. We read social media too. Japan and Dominican Republic, those seem to be, people are leaning more to -- I love reading bulletin board material. Anything to get us going. I think these guys are motivated by that.