WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: POOL C - MEXICO VS UNITED STATES

March 12, 2023

Mark DeRosa

Chase Field

Team United States

Postgame Press Conference

Mexico - 11, USA - 5

Q. Overall thoughts on the game tonight and how it played out?

MARK DEROSA: Yeah, I mean, obviously Nick was a little amped up. I thought he settled in the second and third inning. It's tough. You're trying to massage innings. You're trying to protect these guys. You're trying to honor their parent clubs, do different things.

Brady Singer getting in trouble there was tough. But they swung the bats well. We were sitting there one run, three hits through six innings. And it took us a little late explosion which hopefully gets the offense going, but they played a good ball game.

Q. One run, three hits through six innings. A couple balls weren't turned into outs in the early innings. What do you attribute the struggles to?

MARK DEROSA: I always attribute it to they're 20 at-bats into Spring Training and then ramping it up. The names on the back of the jersey are too good. A lot of trust in the room.

Q. What was the thinking with leaving Brady Singer in at that point?

MARK DEROSA: To be honest with you, trying to cover it with bullpen guys, trying to save guys for tomorrow. Like I said, there's a lot of kind of honoring some parent-club wishes to try to get these guys ready for the regular season, Opening Day and limited in the number of arms you have down there. You've got to kind of push some guys.

Q. Was it more about helping Brady get sort of an appropriate amount of work tonight or just --

MARK DEROSA: No, I think it was a matter of could we cover it if we went and got him.

Q. What about with Bard. He was obviously having a tough time there. Was it just --

MARK DEROSA: Same thing. A lot of these guys they're restricted from cleaning up a dirty inning and going back out. So we were trying to get him through that inning, trying to get Devin Williams to the eighth and be able to save Pressly.

Q. How tough does that make your job because you're trying to win these games but you also have these other obligations?

MARK DEROSA: It's tough.

Q. Is that it?

MARK DEROSA: I can get into it super deep, but you guys are seeing it play out, right? There's a lot of guys that mean a lot to these big league ball clubs and their seasons. I'm not going to do anything to jeopardize them. I would have loved to have put Kendall back out there after five pitches. I would have loved to put Devin back out there after one. But that's not what we're doing.

Q. How frustrating is it to you not to be able to manage with urgency?

MARK DEROSA: Playing 13 years in the big leagues, I completely understand it. I mean, obviously I want nothing more for these guys to repeat as champions and hold up the trophy. But I'm not going to do anything to jeopardize these guys' big league careers. Just not. So it was tough. Tonight was tough.

Q. Obviously you realized this can get away from you pretty quickly.

MARK DEROSA: Yeah.

Q. And are you starting to look at the tiebreaker rules, what happened with Pool A today? There's going to be a mix and match in how you're going to be able to make this. Despite all the gesticulations in what you have to do with the pitching staff; you can still make this thing?

MARK DEROSA: Yeah, I'm still processing what happened in this game. We'll get together as a coaching staff and figure that out. I'm not concerned with that. I expect us to go out and play a hell of a game tomorrow. I really do.

Q. (Indiscernible) about the network. Do you remember Joey Meneses taking off those last two months with the Nationals?

MARK DEROSA: Absolutely I do. Absolutely I do. I actually did a whole thing on him. He's grinded through it. Kind of late bloomer. Figured it out. He had a hell of a game tonight. He really did.

Got some pitches over the heart of the plate. That's the thing; it's early in spring. You're trying to execute a pitch down and away, you leave it middle of the plate in a packed house. Guys are jacked up. And he caught two of them.

Q. Felt good for a guy -- it was against you but (inaudible) -- 12 years in the minor leagues doing what he did tonight?

MARK DEROSA: Yeah, what a moment for him. What a moment for Mexico. But I wasn't jacked up for him. (Laughter).

Q. I'm not sure on the rules, can your relievers go back-to-back days, or are all guys that pitched today down for tomorrow?

MARK DEROSA: We'll figure it out tomorrow. We have to figure it out.

Q. Are there hard-and-fast rules?

MARK DEROSA: Yes, pitch count rules. But as far as honoring the parent clubs, there will be some discussions tonight.