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

March 11, 2023

Kyle Schwarber

Chase Field

Team United States

Postgame Press Conference

USA - 6, Great Britain - 2

Q. Took you guys a few innings to break out against Worley. Was it just an adjustment seeing 86 to 90, and the second time you guys kind of got adjusted?

KYLE SCHWARBER: I wouldn't say that. I wouldn't put it on the velocity. It's kind of a lot of firsts going on for some guys here. And trying to get the -- just get that under the belt, just settle down. You're in a really cool environment. And get those firsts out of the way, and then it's time to just kind of ride.

So I felt we did a good job. We worked Worley and got guys on base. We just weren't able to get the hit. And we were able to kind of continually grind and get guys on base and then we were able to put some runs up.

Q. You talked about the velocity there, Kyle. The kid you faced in the fourth ramped up to 95 after seeing high 80s there. You took the first two pitches for strikes and then you hit the changeup out. Could you take me through that at-bat. What were you looking for there?

KYLE SCHWARBER: I don't know. I took two strikes on two fastballs, and once you get in the two strikes, it's that battle mode and try to put the ball in play but also not try to expand.

So I was able to take the heater inside. And then he kind of just left a changeup in the zone and I was able to kind of get a decent swing off and get some runs on board. So that was nice.

Q. Is the salute just a Team USA thing, spontaneous, is that --

KYLE SCHWARBER: That's going to be our little celebration for us this year.

Q. Makes sense, right?

KYLE SCHWARBER: Get back to a little salute to our men and women, too.

Q. You had the experience last season going on a deep playoff run all the way to the World Series. Once you get to that environment, you spent six months with those guys, what's it like in this environment to be playing in these high-leverage games with a group that's kind of coming together for the first time?

KYLE SCHWARBER: I think that's the fun part, right? Is that it's familiar faces, but there's guys who are teammates, but a lot of guys who haven't been teammates with each other.

And it's fun. You're in playoff atmosphere baseball in March. It's really cool. And I think you're going to see us -- we're doing a really good job right now coming together. I think it's going to be cool to see kind of as we keep going along this that this little tournament and this little journey we've got, see how we've come together as a team. And I think that's going to be a really fun thing to keep track of.

Q. You've played in the World Series and LCS and in some of the most passionate cities, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago. When you say "playoff atmosphere" here, how is it different when you're playing in this kind of tournament versus LCS World Series and those kind of cities?

KYLE SCHWARBER: I think it's all about the reason we're here for. We're here for our country, and we're here to go out there and try to get to the very end of this thing. And it's not like we're just here to be here. We're not just happy to be here; no, we want to go out there and try to finish this thing off.

And today was the first step, day one, but that's what we're here for. And when you have all these guys in this locker room who are superstars in their own right and guys who have seen a lot of big moments and seen a lot of big games, this is just as important as that as well.

Q. To that point, you played on some really good teams, some really good players sitting in front of you, behind you. What's it like to have Trout, Goldy and Arenado hitting in front of you?

KYLE SCHWARBER: That's a pretty cool thing, to sit there and watch, and it's kind of like the baseball fan kind of comes out in you. You see these guys that are some of the best hitters in the league and some of the best players in the league overall. And to see the way these guys kind of work before the game I think is a little bit more -- that's what's impressive to me, to see how these guys go about their business. Just kind of sit there, watch, learn, listen, things like that, try to take inasmuch as you can because this is kind of a -- I know it's once in, what, four years kind of thing, four years, right? This one's six. But you might not get this opportunity again to be in this room with these guys. You want to take advantage of that.