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| Shohei Ohtani |
These are the moments we want when we watch baseball, right? Ohtani and Trout are, of course, teammates during the regular season with the Los Angeles Angels.
But on this night, they were competitors, playing for their countries. Naturally, the World Baseball Classic championship would come down to this matchup.
Ohtani struck out Trout on a well-placed 3-2 slider, giving Team Japan a 3-2 victory over Team USA.
Full credit to Japan. They went 7-0 in the tournament, becoming just the second team to run the table in the WBC. (The Dominican Republic went undefeated on its way to the 2013 championship.)
The Americans were the defending champions, but they fell just short in this tournament -- ending with a 5-2 record.
Team USA scored nine runs in its quarterfinal victory over Venezuela and 14 runs in a semifinal win over Cuba. However, the Americans managed only two solo home runs -- Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber -- on Tuesday against Japan.
It wasn't for lack of scoring opportunities. Team USA put 13 runners on base -- nine hits and four walks. That should be a recipe for more than two runs, but the Americans went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position, grounded into two double plays and stranded nine runners.
In fact, Ohtani walked Jeff McNeil to lead off the ninth inning, but Mookie Betts followed with a momentum-killing double play. That left it up to Trout, and Ohtani slammed the door with the strikeout.
This was a great game that capped a great tournament. Team Mexico and Team Venezuela also showed very well. The Mexican team defeated the Americans in pool play, and took Japan to the wire in Monday's semifinal. In fact, Japan rallied from behind twice and needed two runs in the bottom of the ninth to pull out a 6-5 win.
The Venezuelan team made a surprising 4-0 run through pool play, taking down the powerful Dominican team, as well as Team Puerto Rico. Venezuela had a 7-5 lead against Team USA in the quarterfinals, before Turner hit a grand slam in the eighth inning to lift the Americans to a 9-7 win.
I've been baffled by some of the criticism of the World Baseball Classic. Some have called these games "meaningless" or "exhibitions," especially after New York Mets closer Edwin Diaz was unfortunately injured while celebrating Team Puerto Rico's win over the Dominican Republic.
I disagree with that assessment. These games obviously mean a great deal to the players who participated, and even grizzled veterans -- like U.S. pitcher Adam Wainwright -- have said they've never played baseball in a louder environment than the one in Miami this week.
As a matter of fact, I'd like to see more of the top American players step up and play. In particular, I'm talking about pitchers. As far as position players go, Team USA had a tremendous group. It featured former MVPs such as Trout, Betts and Paul Goldschmidt. The American roster included the best third baseman in baseball (Nolan Arenado) and the best catcher (J.T. Realmuto).
Turner is a former batting champion who hit five home runs in the tournament. Schwarber is the reigning National League home run king. Heck, McNeill won the NL batting title last season, and he had to share playing time at second base with Tim Anderson, another former batting champion.
That's an embarrassment of riches.
On the pitching side, Wainwright, Lance Lynn, Nick Martinez and Merrill Kelly made starts for Team USA. Nothing against these four men, because all are good pitchers. Wainwright, 41, and Lynn, 35, have enjoyed long careers in MLB for a reason, but if you were selecting a 1-2 punch for American-born pitchers, I don't think you would choose them at this stage of their careers.
I'm not going to call out individual guys who I think should have played. The regular season is important, and everybody has the right to prioritize what they wish. I just hope we see some American-born aces sign up to pitch next time this tournament is held in 2026.
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