WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: POOL C - AUSTRALIA VS CZECHIA

March 6, 2026

David Nilsson

Tokyo Dome

Team Australia

Pregame Press Conference

Q. Travis hit a home run yesterday and showed his power. He also played in Taiwan three years ago in the Premier12. Do you think he has improved the most over the past three years?

DAVID NILSSON: Well I think every player who experiences these sort of tournaments over time is going to improve and Travis has shown that himself. I think consistency, learning the environment. He's always going to continue to improve. He works hard. He's very diligent and he's very prepared. He does a good job with his body and he an outstanding job just continuing to game plan and prepare. I think you're going to continue to see good performances from him.

Q. Yesterday against Chinese Taipei, Team Australia showed strong pitching and exploding hitting. In your opinion, how is the team different from the Australia team that played in the 2023 WBC?

DAVID NILSSON: I think both teams were very good, very talented. Both are very well prepared. I think this team has a slight advantage just because we learned a lot in 2023, I would say this group is slightly more athletic, which gives me a lot more flexibility with the roles that the players play on the team and how they are included. I think we have really about depth in pitching. We have a lot different types of pitches.

So we can use pitchers in different situations but you know, this team still has a lot that it has to prove. This team isn't hasn't done anything so to speak. We got through, had a victory yesterday. Really proud of the effort and the way we played yesterday. But as a group, we still didn't achieve anything.

Q. Obviously a lot of excitement in the Australian baseball community yesterday but today is a completely new day. You've been around these tournaments your whole life it feels like. What is the messaging you give to the guys make sure they don't get ahead of themselves and they stay ready for today?

DAVID NILSSON: Yea, I think the challenge for every team is just to be in the moment and it's no different for this team. As a group, we prepare ourselves. We don't get too over focused on opposition.

So I don't think I have a message for today. I trust the players. I believe in my players, and there's nothing you need to say. They are competitors. They want to win and I expect them to be on point today. I expect them to play very well.

Q. You've been around the game a long time, played in the majors and Japan and Australia and now you're playing Czechia. How have you seen the growth of baseball in your career around the glove in your career?

DAVID NILSSON: I think the World Baseball Classic is such a great vehicle for international growth. There's two different parts to this tournament. MLB have done a great job. Obviously the key players at MLB are promoting the game and their passion with they are desire passion to play for their nations but the second part is the smaller nations, which we were. It really gives the smaller nations an opportunity to grow and gives them a real vehicle where they can improve. This tournament is so important to the smaller nations. I feel like we as a nation have transitioned away from that now. We have really high expectations and we don't consider ourselves a second-tier nation. We kind of feel we're right in the mix of it now.

Q. Any changes to your starting lineup today?

DAVID NILSSON: The starting lineup will be the same. I have a lineup for right-hand pitchers and left-hand pitchers and I'll continue with that. I think that gives us great depth and great flexibility and as far as starting pitchers go, I have a belief in them. I believe they are going to be prepared and I believe that they understand job at hand and I really trust them with the positions I've put them in. So I feel really good about the team, the staff, and excited to see this game unfold today.

Q. What impact can this WBC have on Australian baseball?

DAVID NILSSON: One of the things I enjoy the most about the team that I manage and the Australian players is we really understand how we can affect people, young people. We really want to encourage the young kids of Australia but we also have a partnership with Fuchu, a positive relationship where we visit a lot of schools. Our guys do such a great job of inspiring young kids. We have 500 students or approximately that number coming out today to watch this game. We are excited about that. Hopefully they feel like we are helping them and hopefully we can inspire them.