WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL - VENEZUELA VS USA

March 17, 2026

Mark DeRosa

Roman Anthony

Alex Bregman

LoanDepot Park

Team USA

Pregame Press Conference

Q. Alex, you're back in the lineup. How do you feel facing a lefty in Eduardo Rodriguez?

And Mark, what do you see that you put back Alex Bregman in the lineup?

ALEX BREGMAN: I feel good. Obviously he's a touch pitcher and they've got a really good team, so we're excited to compete and get after it.

MARK DeROSA: He's one of the best players in the world, total trust in him and completely deserving of being back in the lineup.

Q. (Off microphone.)

MARK DeROSA: Absolutely. I love the matchup. How many times have you faced Eduardo, like 30? A lot of familiarity there. So yeah, certainly, one of the best players in the game.

Q. DeRo, will Mason Miller be available tonight?

MARK DeROSA: I would like to avoid him, but the score is going to dictate it. But yes, he's available.

Q. Would it be safe to say in a save situation?

MARK DeROSA: He's in, yeah.

Q. Following up on that, Mark, related to Mason Miller, can you talk about the confidence that you have going to him in the high pressure situations, even with this crazy environment?

MARK DeROSA: Yeah, he's got a kind of unflappable demeanor about him, explosive stuff. I think you can speak to these hitters, right? We're still in March here, they're getting ready for a season. I think at the end of the day, stuff plays, and when you can run it up there at 101, 102 with a breaking ball that he can land for a strike, he's tough you to deal with.

Q. For Mark, what would winning this mean to you?

MARK DeROSA: I'm just proud of the guys buying in. I'm proud of the hard work that I've put in in kind of building this with Mike Hill, the players, the coaching staff.

For me personally, I like the journey of doing all this, John, and seeing it come to fruition with a championship would be the most rewarding thing for me.

Q. For Alex, going back to the first World Baseball Classic, as a 12-year-old, do you have any memories watching it, and how have your views of the event changed over time?

ALEX BREGMAN: I don't really have memories from that one, but I have memories from the World Baseball Classic in '17, and I feel like it's only gotten bigger and better. I feel like our game's in such a great place right now.

It's awesome to be able to go out there and compete for your country, represent your country, and I know our team takes great pride in that.

Q. Why do you think it's caught on more with fans in the last few times?

ALEX BREGMAN: I don't know. That's a good question. I think you can see the genuine love for your country between all the teams in this tournament, and we love representing the United States.

Q. Roman, this is going to be for you. How do you get yourself ready for such a big game like this, and is this the biggest game you've ever played in?

ROMAN ANTHONY: Nothing really changes. I mean, game planning's the same. Sticking to my routine going out and trying to win a baseball game, that's it.

Q. Mark, obviously there's a chance that Major Leaguers play in the Olympics, which means that the All-Star Game would have to get extended. Do you think if that happens, pitchers would be more available? And do you see it as a possible route, the WBC, the event, moving to midseason?

MARK DeROSA: I do think the big leaguers want to play in the Olympics and represent their country. And yes, they would be more prepared and more dialed in, and we'd be dealing with way less restrictions and way less guidelines on the pitching if it was moved to midseason. No question about it.

You're trying to honor -- the beauty of this thing is you try to honor the parent clubs and get these guys back to their parent clubs healthy, but for some reason when you get in a room and you put USA across your chest and fill a stadium, you lose sight of that sometimes.

So I think it's just passion for growing the game, the WBC, but certainly if it was moved to the middle of the season, I don't think you would have any no's for competing in it.

Q. One for Roman, one for Alex. Roman, you've made no secret on what kind of influence Alex has had on you and in your development. What's it like to be back with him? How much has there been, like, I'm going to miss this guy moving forward?

And for Alex, what can an environment like this do for someone like Roman who has never played in postseason games before?

ROMAN ANTHONY: Yeah, it's unreal. He's helped me up until this point more than anyone probably in the big league level. And being with him last year and learning from him and the way that he has been as good as he is and the way that he game-plans and everything and knowing that he just transforms a clubhouse, I've already told him a little bit and joking with him I'm sad to leave him.

It's hit me now that I've been here and been with him. I wasn't with him during the spring, and now being here, talking to him after games, going to his room, the off-the-field stuff that you remember. It's unfortunate that we don't have him, but it's going to be great to just have him in my contacts and be able to call him and stay in touch with him.

ALEX BREGMAN: I think, yeah, playing in this game and playing in this tournament the way he has has obviously showed everybody what we all know about him. I feel like he's going to be one of the best players in the game of baseball for a long, long time.

I feel like there will be many playoff runs for him, and he'll lead many teams to the postseason. He's done a great job this tournament and I'm just super happy for him.

Q. Guys, before I ask this, I know baseball is not as popular as soccer, and that's not the point of what I'm about to ask, so there's the disclaimer there. This is for all three of you. It took until the sixth World Cup for the World Cup to be king of soccer the way it is now. This is now the sixth baseball World Baseball Classic. Do you see it taking hold of baseball and being as important to baseball now as the World Cup is to soccer?

MARK DeROSA: I think that -- you know, I was a part of it in 2009 as a player and didn't really understand what we were getting into, right? And then I was able to manage in 2023. And to see the passion, the game against Mexico, the game against Venezuela, the game against Japan. I credit the Latin American countries, I credit Japan, I credit the other countries for kind of forcing the United States' hand to kind of get in on this.

There's something very powerful about playing for your country. Yeah, I just think it has this uncanny ability to like -- listen, the regular season and trying to win a World Series is what these guys are trying to do, certainly. And I think for the avid baseball fan, they're dialed in on that.

But I think this has this unique ability to draw in kind of the common fan who just can really rally around this and really rally around their country and support it. So this thing has been incredible. To see it grow has been incredible.

Q. This question is for Roman. The Red Sox have had a significant impact in the World Baseball Classic. I was wondering, with your teammates -- enemies, and teammates alike -- how are you going to bring that energy back to the Major Leagues when the season starts?

ROMAN ANTHONY: Yeah, I think early in spring, we knew we had a large group of guys leaving, and we took pride in coming in and being ready early.

I think just seeing the success that guys have had and the passion that these guys have brought for all these different countries, it's exciting to see that we're all going to have that in Boston.

So I think for me and for all the other guys, we're just going to continue to ride this throughout and take this into next week when we start.

But it's exciting more than anything. It's great to see these guys doing their things. We've been in touch to an extent a little bit, but at the same time, trying to stick with our guys.

I'm sure when we all get back it will be nice to be back together, but for now obviously we're all kind of doing our own thing.

Q. Following up on the question from before, Alex, you've played in plenty of World Series games, World Series Game 7s, too. How does the emotion compare to something like that? And just the comments from some of your teammates about saying this is the biggest stage in baseball, do you believe this is the biggest stage in baseball?

ALEX BREGMAN: Like you said, the energy in the last game, just even watching the game on TV last night, it's an electric atmosphere. Any winner-take-all game is so much fun.

You think that you've got to play aggressive and you've got to leave it all out there, and I think like one pitch can change a game. I think that's like the most fun kind of games, the Game 7s and winner-take-all kind of games.

Q. DeRo, you said in 2009 you didn't really know what you were getting yourself into. Do you remember what your perception of the tournament was and maybe how that compares to now?

MARK DeROSA: I was so fired up to get asked to do it. I just remember being -- seeing the BP groups go up for the first time, and I was hitting with Jeter, Rollins and David Wright, so for me it was like blow my hair back kind of stuff.

But as we progressed in the tournament, you could tell kind of the games against Venezuela -- we ended up playing, I believe, semifinals against Japan and losing in Dodgers Stadium. You could see the passion they had.

But our pitchers at that point, you could tell they weren't prepared to pitch in that environment at that time. You could just see kind of us having to buy in and to ramp-up of our pitchers and kind of the parent clubs buying in to get these guys ready.

I'm sure Roman had a ton more at-bats before he showed up in some spring games. I'm sure Alex played a lot more. You've got to be ready to go nine and ready to be at your best to win this thing and compete in it.

(FastScripts by ASAP Sports)