The Americans have the opportunity to knock off the Canadians for the third time in a matter of weeks. After both men’s and women’s hockey teams bested our neighbors to the north, the baseball team will look to do so as well.
Manager Mark DeRosa nearly cost Team USA a chance to advance beyond the knockout round. A watered down lineup and questionable pitching decisions only looked worse after it was revealed he didn’t know the rules.
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Now with just eight teams remaining, Team USA is looking to capture gold for the first time since 2017. DeRosa is keeping the Minnesota Twins star, Byron Buxton, on the bench though.
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MN Twins won’t see Byron Buxton in quarterfinals
Byron Buxton was in centerfield for Team USA’s first game of the World Baseball Classic. He then sat game two against Great Britain. Back in the lineup for game three against Mexico, he was held out of the watered down lineup in an embarrassing loss to Italy. With elimination on the line, Buxton starts on the bench against Canada.
The Minnesota Twins were given assurances by Team USA that Buxton would either be in center field or at designated hitter when in the lineup. Kyle Schwarber’s presence has made it so that no other player has been used as the designated hitter.
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Arguably the best defensive outfield that DeRosa could run out would go Buxton, Pete Crow-Armstrong, and Aaron Judge from left to right. With Buxton and Crow-Armstrong swapping though, they have rotated starts.
Buxton hasn’t exactly set the world on fire either. While Crow-Armstrong is 3-for-10 with a pair of dingers, the MN Twins star is 0-for-5. Buxton has scored a run, while driving one in, and stealing a base as well. He was hit on the hand against Brazil, but started two games later.
It’s unlikely that Team USA is eliminated by Canada on Friday, so Buxton should get another chance to start. He’s also a candidate to run if the situation presents itself. Then again, the squad has to put up a much better effort than the showed in the 8-6 loss against Italy.
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If Team USA advances, they are likely to play the Dominican Republic with Paul Skenes on the mound. A championship rematch with Japan or Puerto Rico, featured in the past two tournaments, would likely be started by Joe Ryan.
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