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

March 11, 2023

Mark DeRosa

Chase Field

Team United States

Postgame Press Conference

USA - 6, Great Britain - 2

Q. With all the things that happened in this game, to pick out Goldy and Arenado had a terrific game. Six years ago, when they were young, Arenado was 5-for-31 in this tournament; Goldy was 1-for-13. What do you think the difference is? Do you think it's their maturity as players? They're now the senior players as opposed to the younger players? How do you think that works?

MARK DEROSA: I think maybe for both of them, even though they want it, it leaves a bad taste in your mouth. I know Nolan was on the field, but Paul didn't start that final game, right? Eric Hosmer did.

For him to stand up first day after I addressed the team and kind of reiterate that point, I just think they've matured as professionals, as superstars in the game. They're going to be major contributors to what we do if we're going to win this thing.

Q. More on Arenado, it feels like he's playing October baseball from like January until whenever. What do you see out of him that makes him special?

MARK DEROSA: First off, he's just a flat-out superstar. The intensity with which he works pregame is honestly like, I'm not sugarcoating it, like nothing I've ever seen. He's intense in ground balls. He's intense in his cage work.

But to be honest with you, a lot of these guys, when that game got rolling, talking to Waino when he came out of the game, he said this is playoff atmosphere right here. That's what I tried to tell them. For the guys that had never been in this, it gets going pretty quick.

The atmosphere is great. Schwarby hit that huge home run to kind of settle everyone down. But I thought Waino rolled one curveball to Trayce Thompson, but besides that he looked great.

Kyle Freeland did a hell of a job for us coming in. He actually wanted to close it out, but I wanted to get David Bednar work. And try and honor parent clubs, try and get some guys work in this while we work our way through it.

Q. You mentioned Trayce Thompson's home run. Two batters you guys are down. Was that a wake-up call, if that's the right phrase?

MARK DEROSA: I don't know if it's a wake-up call. Trayce is a good player. He gets a curveball over the plate that Waino doesn't execute where he wants to, a good hitter is going to make you pay for that.

I don't necessarily know if it was a wake-up call. I just think it's a good hitter getting a mistake in the middle of the plate to be honest.

Q. It took you guys a couple of innings to get rolling. Was it just getting under the light, shaking out the cobwebs, what do you attribute that to?

MARK DEROSA: Just playoff atmosphere. I also think like a couple of guys they threw at us sitting like 88, 89, a lot of guys in this room not used to seeing that on a day-to-day basis. You could tell Mike was a smidge off. Mookie was a smidge off.

A lot of good ABs. I thought Kyle Tucker looked great at the plate. Nothing to show for it.

But just a great first day. I just think for a lot of us, and the coaches included, right? Chance for us to knock -- I don't want to say cobwebs off, but a chance for us to kind of experience it ourselves.

Q. You've talked before about how one through nine the lineup is really tough for anybody to navigate. Now that you've seen it in game action, you guys put somebody on base every inning. What was that like to see it in tournament play for the first time?

MARK DEROSA: It's interesting. They had a base open with Mookie up. You can't walk him to get to Trout. They had a base open with Mike up. You can't walk him to get to Goldy. It's just a relentless lineup that I know it's still early, and no excuses. These guys came in here probably 20 at-bats under their belt. So I expect the offense to even ramp up even more.

Q. The British manager was proud of the effort his guys put out there.

MARK DEROSA: Absolutely.

Q. Did you see from them maybe that they could surprise some people in this tournament?

MARK DEROSA: Absolutely. I mean, baseball, it's a strange game. You can't go out there -- it's not like football; bigger, faster, stronger always wins.

It's who executes, who gets timely hits. They certainly have a few pen arms. The one guy who came in was throwing three digits with a breaking ball. They certainly could surprise some people.

Q. You hear that term "playoff atmosphere." What's the difference between the playoff atmosphere of the MLB playoffs and the atmosphere of this? They're both intense but what are the differences?

MARK DEROSA: I don't think much different, to be honest with you. I think obviously with the lineup we possess it's a little -- it's a little easier to relax because the bottom of our order could hurt you just as quickly as the top. But I'll tell you, it's not much difference.

Right out of the gate, if you're not feeling a little bit of butterflies, you're in the wrong spot. So I would equate it very similar.