MIAMI — Congratulations to Venezuela on winning its first ever World Baseball Classic. The MVPs of the entire event were the Venezuela fans at the semifinals and finals. The place was electric. I’ve truly never seen anything like it, even in the World Series. The raucous environment is one of the many things that makes the WBC so much fun.
Venezuela won the finals Tuesday night, 3-2.
And, hey, good for their fans. This meant the absolute world to them. The sheer joy on their faces tugged at the heartstrings of anyone with an ounce of humanity. I saw parents and kids dancing in the concourses. I saw happy tears. One Venezuelan fan told me he probably shouldn’t have paid what he did to attend both the semis and finals, but that it was still worth it. This might well have been the top moment in the lives of some Venezuelan sports fans. I asked a few and they confirmed. Sure, it might be recency bias, but I totally believe them.
That is, as we like to say, the good stuff.
“Just today, after beating Italy, I saw the videos of the people on the streets celebrating in the smallest town in the country, a black and white TV set, and those people supporting us, kneeling down,” catcher Salvador Perez said after the game. “They were with us here in our hearts. I would like to thank them from the bottom of my heart. Thank you for the support.”
I usually hate to say stuff like this, but I think it’s clear that the team that wanted it more on Tuesday night prevailed.
“We’re not just teammates, we are family,” Venezuelan DH Eugenio Suárez said after the game. “This team is awesome. We are family here. That’s why we play with passion, with love, because we feel the jersey. We feel our country on the front of us. That’s why this is a lot for us as players, as people, as a human being and as Venezuelan. We are now the champions.”
On the USA side, though, the loss is due to the offense mostly being a dud — not necessarily a lack of intensity or caring or anything like that. They just didn’t slug. Bryce Harper’s two-run shot to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth inning was amazing. Otherwise, this offense provided a mere whimper in the face of the celebratory Venezuelans. Even including the home run, Team USA had a slugging percentage of .200 in the game.
Even if surprising, it shouldn’t be entirely shocking.
Baseball in small samples happens. There will come a time this season when the Rockies pitching staff stifles an opponent in Coors Field and we’ll all just accept it because that’s baseball. It doesn’t mean it’s acceptable; it’s simply the reality of the sport. Hitting a baseball is one of the hardest things to do in any professional sport. It’s why the best players are retired six out of 10 times (I know the saying is seven out of 10, but that would technically be a .300 on-base percentage and that’s bad).
Still, we can tell the truth about the World Baseball Classic, as it is an event that lives in small samples. The teams that get to the finals play only seven games across the entire tournament. There are four games in pool play and then it’s single elimination thereafter. An offense disappointing or being shut down isn’t necessarily a bad offense.
Straight up, the American offense was bad in the semifinals and finals of the WBC and that’s why USA isn’t celebrating the 2026 World Baseball Classic championship. In fact, knowing the context behind the stats and the ungodly level of talent on this USA squad, it’s fair to say the offense as a whole disappointed throughout the WBC.
In seven games, USA hit 10 home runs — but keep in mind that three of those came after the team was trailing Italy 8-0 in the fifth inning. Here in Miami, the USA offense was mostly punchless. They scored five runs against Canada in the quarterfinals, but there was only one extra-base hit, a first-inning double. In the semifinals, USA hit two home runs in the same inning and that was it for the scoring. The pitching and defense helped the team prevail over the Dominican Republic, but the offense just wasn’t really there.
Heading into the finals, USA as a team was hitting .260/.380/.438, which was good for seventh in slugging percentage. “Good” probably doesn’t belong in that sentence, you know? That OBP is good, but that’s heavily skewed by drawing 17 walks against a clearly overmatched Brazil team — the seven ninth-inning runs that game also did some heavy lifting for USA’s stat line.
Here in the finals on Tuesday night, give credit to Venezuela starter Eduardo Rodríguez. He was great, stifling USA for 4 ⅓ innings. We know he’s a capable big leaguer. He also has posted an ERA north of 5.00 each of the last two seasons and hasn’t been good on a regular basis since 2023. The USA offense only managed one hit against him and that was a groundball with eyes. Bryce Harper’s two-out single in the top of the sixth inning was USA’s second hit of the game. Harper’s homer was the third and final hit.
Yes, USA got three hits in nine innings in a championship game.
Maikel Garcia named World Baseball Classic MVP for helping lead Venezuela to first ever title
Mike Axisa
Keep in mind, this USA offense had, among others:
- A three-time MVP who once hit over 60 home runs in a season
- A catcher who hit 60 home runs last year
- A two-time MVP who has five 30-homer seasons under his belt
- A player who has hit at least 38 home runs five times, including each of the last four seasons, topping out at 56 last year
- A shortstop with two 45-plus double seasons, two 30-plus home run seasons and two 10-triple seasons before the age of 26
Do I really need to keep going? It’s an embarrassment of riches, notably regarding the ability to slug.
What business do these guys have getting outslugged in the tournament by six teams, including Italy and Australia?
Embarrassment of riches? That is just an embarrassment.
“Ultimately, it’s who gets hot at the right time, who gets a big swing,” manager Mark DeRosa said after the game. “It just seemed like we couldn’t get the offense going the entire tournament.”
In terms of putting the team together, this wasn’t bad process. Nothing needs to be “fixed” here. The results were bad. The studs just didn’t collectively hit like they should have.
Of course, I had plenty of issues with DeRosa’s lineups. I know Cal Raleigh wasn’t hitting (yet), but he only got nine at-bats — and DeRosa had Will Smith face a right-handed pitcher in the seventh (Raleigh is a switch hitter). Gunnar Henderson was a part-time player and he’s better than Alex Bregman here in 2026. If he could play third base in the semifinals, he should’ve done it more often. Those are just a few examples, but also, the players in the lineup were good enough to execute better even without an ideal lineup.
They just didn’t. It’s why USA didn’t win the World Baseball Classic. The team didn’t hit like it’s clearly capable. This doesn’t mean the players are bad players. They are still an incredibly talented bunch and there’s plenty of hardware in there still to come. In small sample baseball like the WBC, though, you don’t have a long period of time to figure it out. USA didn’t.
Venezuela rose to the occasion, much to the delight of their fans, both local and abroad. The more deserving team took this title home. And now the joyous atmosphere carries on outside LoanDepot Park with thousands of fans singing, dancing and draped in Venezuelan flags.
and subject to change.