WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: POOL B

March 5, 2026

Sam Aldegheri

Daikin Park

Team Italy

Workout Day Press Conference

Q. You have now made your first World Baseball Classic roster. And in the intervening time since the last classic, you have made your Major League debut. And this reflects the tremendous growth in Italian baseball for everyone over the last three years. Can you talk about the changes that have happened for the past few years that have taken you from that point to now and where Italy is headed for the next few years following this trajectory?

SAM ALDEGHERI: I think the game is growing. Back home in Italy, I have been in a lot of camps during the offseason working with kids, and I have seen a lot of experienced coaches trying to help the game to grow, and, yeah, I have seen a lot of good things back there.

So hopefully it is going to keep it up, and, yeah, it is going to be better in the next couple years.

Q. Obviously outside of being a World Baseball Classic year it is also World Cup year. Being from Italy I have to ask (inaudible).

SAM ALDEGHERI: I am an Juventus fan.

Q. Any one you hope to meet in this tournament, any other team?

SAM ALDEGHERI: I walked in the tunnel. I saw the USA team. I was watching those guys on TV a couple years ago, and now I have the opportunity to face them, I think it is pretty cool. Especially for the kid inside of me, I always dreamed about it. Hopefully I am going to face them soon.

Q. Ken Griffey is the photographer for USA. Are you hoping to meet him too?

SAM ALDEGHERI: Yeah, of course. As I say, I grew up watching all of those guys. It is a dream to be here, be around them. It is really cool.

Q. Can you talk more about what is happening in the development of the game in Italy and what the specific goals are for the next few years?

SAM ALDEGHERI: Well, I have been in a couple academies. They are starting to do these academies every region, every city. I have seen a lot of kids, they start from six, eight. They were going to school too. Working for baseball in school, as you guys know, it is not a thing, the sport is not connected to school over there. It is more all-day, so they are trying to implement it in there.

Hopefully next couple years we will have better technology too, more sponsors, hopefully, come in and just try to get better.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you so much. Good luck.