On Tuesday night, the vaunted American squad fell to Team Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic.
As the stars of Team USA lick their wounds following a 3-2 loss, we take a look at that story and some of the other headlines around baseball.
USA Falls to Venezuela in WBC
The overwhelming favorite to win the WBC fell to Venezuela in heartbreaking fashion, with Bryce Harper smashing a home run to tie the game at 2-2 in the eighth inning before Venezuelan designated hitter Eugenio Suárez answered with an RBI double in the ninth.
“We put on this uniform, signed up to go out there and get a gold medal,” Team USA captain Aaron Judge said, as reported by Andy McCullough of The Athletic. “We just fell short.”
Now, the long wait begins for more international baseball. Yes, the 2028 OIympics in Los Angeles include baseball, but that’s only six teams, and it’s not yet decided that MLB players will be able to compete.
That means it’s a four-year wait for another WBC. Sit tight.
Yankee’s Cole Returns to Mound
New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole took the mound for the first time in over a year on Wednesday, throwing a scoreless inning against the Boston Red Sox in spring training.
“Cole threw 10 pitches, seven for strikes, including six four-seam fastballs that averaged 97.1 mph, ranging from 98.7 mph 96.1 mph. He threw two sliders and a pair of knuckle-curves,” the Associated Press reports.
Cole, 35, had Tommy John surgery in March 2025, leading to the 377-day absence from the mound.
That absence, though was longer when you look only at regular season and postseason games.
“His last official outing was in Game 5 of the 2024 World Series that Oct. 30,” the AP reports. “The six-time All-Star pitched in two spring training games in 2025, the last on March 6.”
Jays’ Berrios to Miss Time
Another pitcher, the Toronto Blue Jays’ Jose Berrios, will miss the start of the season with a stress fracture in his elbow, the Associated Press reports.
“I think he’ll take a couple of days down from throwing and then get back after it,” manager John Schneider said. “Hopefully it’s not too long. As long as he’s feeling good, [he] can get back on the mound fairly soon, but he won’t be ready to start the season.”
Berrios missed the 2025 World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers due to injury.
