WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: QUARTERFINALS - ITALY VS JAPAN

March 15, 2023

David Fletcher

Tokyo Dome

Team Italy

Workout Day Press Conference

Q. Finally, tomorrow, you have a big game against Japan. What's in your mind right now?

DAVID FLETCHER: Yeah, we have a big game tomorrow. It's exciting to be here in Japan and see the country and get to play against Shohei, too. We are just really excited.

Q. You just mentioned Shohei's name. Including Shohei, what's the impression for Team Japan?

DAVID FLETCHER: I haven't watched many of their games but from the outside it seems like they have really good pitching. They have been beating teams pretty easily so obviously they have a talented team. They have a pretty talented team, so that's my impression from the outside.

Q. Tomorrow's probable starter is Shohei Ohtani. He's going to play as a two-way player as usual. What's your idea facing off against Shohei tomorrow?

DAVID FLETCHER: Yeah, facing him is going to be fun. I've seen him a lot obviously from my side of the field, so now getting to play against him is really exciting and going to be fun.

Yeah, our whole team is just excited to be here and excited to compete against him.

Q. As a major leaguer, you and Shohei Ohtani, there's such a huge -- including you, a lot of Japanese fans recognize you as one of the major league players and you're one of the teammates with Shohei. How do you feel about playing baseball in front of a Japanese audience?

DAVID FLETCHER: Obviously with the Angels, we have a lot of Japanese fans and so getting to see them a lot in the United States, and getting to come here and see the Tokyo Dome full is going to be definitely special.

Q. Shohei mentioned to us that you had ramen last night. How did it taste?

DAVID FLETCHER: I went to Ayo Ramen (ph), it was really good, really good gyoza, and the food today in the clubhouse was amazing. So far, really good food here.

Q. You told Shohei that you wish you could have a sushi dinner. Have you tried sushi yet?

DAVID FLETCHER: I'm actually going to sushi tonight. Yuhei (ph) helped me get a reservation, so looking forward to going tonight.

Q. A lot of Japanese audience and also a lot of Italian friends are paying attention. What's in your mind for tomorrow's game right now?

DAVID FLETCHER: Right now, just excitement of -- it's a one-game playoff, so winner goes on and loser goes home, so those kind of games are really fun, and don't happen very often besides the playoffs.

So our team is excited for this one game, and we're going to show up with a lot of energy and hopefully move on to Miami.

Q. You are teammates, and also you and Shohei are the same age, and when you face against Shohei, what's the approach, what's the strategy to hit off of Shohei? Or do you have any conversation with Mike Piazza to face against Shohei?

DAVID FLETCHER: Obviously Shohei is really talented and I've seen it thousands of times on his side. Not much strategy. Just go up and try to have good at-bats against him, and we'll do the best we can.

Q. What's the strength for Team Italy's baseball?

DAVID FLETCHER: We had really good at-bats in Taichung. We had a lot of good hitters and really fast guys. So we run the bases well and play good defense and our pitching has been doing pretty good. I would say our strength is just our quality of at-bats and speed on the bases.

Q. Once you found out this game was going to happen, did you talk to Shohei in any friendly wagers on the line, trash-talking, anything like that, especially knowing he's going to be pitching tomorrow night?

DAVID FLETCHER: Yeah, I talked to him on the phone and just -- it's going to be fun for both of us. It wasn't too much of a phone call but basically just wishing each other luck and excited to face him.

Q. A lot of players, including you, you have a mustache, because when you play in Anaheim, you don't usually have a mustache. What's it all about?

DAVID FLETCHER: Yeah, we did it as a team. We all just grew mustaches for something to do all together. It's been fun. I had to put Just For Men black hair dye on my mustache. All of us together as a team kind of look a little more Italian, maybe. Just something fun to do.