Team USA Facing Different Kind Of Pressure In WBC

Trea Turner understands pressure situations.

The veteran shortstop won the 2019 World Series while playing for the Washington Nationals against the Houston Astros. After being traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers, Turner appeared in the postseason again in 2021 and 2022.

The Philadelphia Phillies hope Turner can lead them back to the playoffs this year. They signed him to an 11-year, $300-million contract after reaching the World Series last fall where they lost to the Houston Astros.

Now Turner is playing in his first World Baseball Classic for the United States.

The Americans opened pool play Saturday with a 6-2 victory over Great Britain at Chase Field in Phoenix and face Mexico on Sunday night.

The pressure is on Team USA to repeat its championship from the last WBC in 2017. However, Turner feels it is a different pressure than what teams feel during the Major League Baseball postseason.

“You play six, seven months to play in a postseason game,” Turner said. “Now it’s just a sprint. You’re in there and you’re wearing a different jersey and you have guys from different teams. You’re trying to come together. There’s such a unique experience. That’s why it makes it so fun and so appealing to fans and to us as well. It’s just the structure of it.

“But I think the pressure is more we just want to help the team win. When your name is called, you want to do whatever you can to make a play, to have a good at-bat, to make a pitch, whatever it is. And I think that’s more the pressure of just wanting to help out more than anything and wanting to be a part of something kind of bigger than yourself.”

The MLB season lasts 162 games so there is usually plenty of time for teams and players to ride out bad streaks and cold spells.

The WBC is more like an amateur tournament.

Each team plays four games in pool play with the two top teams in each of the four pools advancing to the quarterfinals. Once those eight teams are determined, they play knockout games with the championship game scheduled for March 21 at loanDepot Park in Miami.

“So we were talking about it — I forget who it was — but somebody said, ‘man, I haven’t played tournament in a long time.,’” Turner said. “It’s a funny concept because we’re not used to it. But I’ve heard one game, wild card, each and every game, I guess that’s about as close as it gets.”

San Diego Padres right-hander Nick Martinez experienced the postseason for the first time in 2022 when his team reached the National League Championship Series before losing to the Phillies.

Martinez, too, was asked about the pressure of playing WBC relative to the playoffs.

“Well, both, really, because the atmosphere definitely plays a part in how we feel out there as athletes,” Martinez said. “What’s different is maybe just the timing of it. Obviously in the playoffs for the season, there’s, A, a ton of more information. Obviously, you’re built up, or you’re exhausted, depending how you were used that season. So, you’re definitely more prepared given you’ve had a full season to get to.

“And here we’re still in spring training and still tuning up, but I think a lot of guys knowing that the tournament happened this year, some guys may change their offseason plans to be ready for this tournament. So, the similarities really come from just the atmosphere in the stadium and what we’re playing for.”

United States manager Mark DeRose has made it clear to his players that they have little margin for error in a tournament setting.

“I kind of felt like when I came in, the first day they reported, I kind of wanted to, kind of wake them up to why they were here and kind of get them to buy into team and show some energy, and kind of get them to understand that this is a sprint,” DeRosa said.