WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: POOL C - GREAT BRITAIN VS CANADA

March 12, 2023

Drew Spencer

Chase Field

Team Great Britain

Postgame Press Conference

Canada - 18, Great Britain - 8 (7)

Q. Tough loss, but how does GB take the positives into the next game?

DREW SPENCER: There's still two games to play. For us it's right back at it tomorrow.

Q. What's this do to your pitching considering how many pitchers you had to use today?

DREW SPENCER: I'm pretty sure we're still on track for kind of what we wanted to get done. I think with the way the rest requirements work and the way we utilized people yesterday, we'll be fine.

Q. The play you had in the first with Young swiping home on the double steal -- you had five steals through the first three innings -- how important is kind of the speed aspect to your lineup construction?

DREW SPENCER: I mean, it's game to game. Yesterday was not as much of a factor for us as it was today. And going forward we know it's there. So in certain situations we know we can turn it on, but we've got to be smart. And today I thought we were.

Q. For both teams, a lot of pitches, a lot of time on their feet. What's it like for players slogging through a game like that where it's competitive but there's a slow pace and just a lot of inaction around the field between moments?

DREW SPENCER: It's not what anyone wants. They're pros, they've been there. I think what we have to recognize is that we had a late game last night. It was an exciting game, emotional, in front of a big crowd. And then we had the early game today. So it was always going to be a tough turnaround.

I don't know for a fact that that was a factor for anybody, but I know if it were me and when I played that might have been tough. And then to be standing up a long time in that kind of situation is probably not the situation you want to be in.

But I don't think, inning by inning, the energy I felt as guys came off the field especially the way we kept punching back in the early innings was, hey, we're right in this; we just keep going. So I didn't really sense that that fatigue was a factor with long innings.