How Team USA can line up its pitching for World Baseball Classic finals vs. Venezuela
Nolan McLean is set to start but manager Mark DeRosa needs a plan behind the Mets rookie
MIAMI -- The World Baseball Classic finals are set for Tuesday night in loanDepot Park, formerly Marlins Park. USA has advanced to the finals for just the third time in six tries in the event. USA won the championship in 2017 and lost a one-run game to Japan in the 2023 finals. Opposing them will be Venezuela, who took down Italy in the semifinals Monday night.
Figuring out the pitching plan for each game in the tournament is a complicated business. First off, there are pitch limits on the starters and rules against pitching anyone on back-to-back days. Next, pitcher usage generally needs to be acceptable to their major-league teams. And, of course, putting the team in the best position to win matters greatly.
We know the starting pitcher for USA in the finals will be Mets youngster Nolan McLean, who was recommended to Team USA manager Mark DeRosa by hitting coach Matt Holliday; McLean was a two-way player at Oklahoma State University when Holliday served on the baseball team's coaching staff.
"Watching him pitch in the second half of the season, his stuff is explosive," DeRosa said Monday. "At the end of the day, he has a relationship with Matt Holliday, who's on our coaching staff, and Matt called me multiple times and was like, 'he's built for this.'
"After my first conversation with him, like I said, your heart's got to be 100% in this because it grabs you quick. You can see the environment last night. If you don't want that moment, it's going to eat you up. So I think he's just built for this. His mindset, his stuff, his want, all of that kind of led to him being a part of this team."
McLean came into the WBC with just eight starts of big-league experience, but he was 5-1 with a 2.06 ERA, having struck out 57 batters in 48 innings.
"Putting U.S. on your chest and going out there and competing obviously means the world," the rookie said of his impending start.
It won't be just him, though.
Where will Team USA go after McLean?
There's a 95-pitch limit here in the finals, but there's no way McLean gets all the way there. He didn't exceed 56 pitches in spring training with the Mets and last Tuesday threw 55 pitches against Italy in the WBC. Maybe he works up to 70 if things are going well. McLean himself estimated that he could get to 65-70 pitches.
Even 80 pitches likely only gets McLean through the sixth inning and the smart money is on him going shorter than that. So how does DeRosa piece things together after McLean?
Some starting pitchers on the roster could get length behind McLean in a piggybacking role. Matthew Boyd, a lefty, could be a piggyback option. He got knocked around in pool play, but he's an All-Star starting pitcher and wouldn't be needed for long. Plus, there's good contrast in going from a power righty to the southpaw.
As for the short relievers, Garrett Whitlock has been amazing thus far, David Bednar has wiggled out of some jams and Mason Miller is the closer. All three of them threw both Friday and Sunday. It wouldn't be problematic to have a reliever go one inning on a Friday, Sunday and Tuesday in regular-season action. But here in spring training, is that workable?
DeRosa was asked about Miller, specifically, after Sunday's game and simply said, "I would hope he'd be available."
The Padres have reportedly been in touch with DeRosa regarding Miller's use and he might not be available. New Padres manager Craig Stammen told The Athletic that no decision has been made yet and Miller isn't "ruled out." Miller seems like he wants to take the ball.
"I think they trust me," he said. "So if I say I'm good to go, they're going to be supportive of that."
If DeRosa needs to dip into other late-inning arms, Brad Keller and Gabe Speier have been shaky, but Griffin Jax has been great. Garrett Cleavinger is available, though he's only thrown one inning all WBC and that was a while ago (vs. Mexico on March 9). Tim Hill, Will Vest and Jeff Hoffman are on the team now, but haven't thrown in the WBC and I'm not sure it would be advisable to throw any of them into the fire in a close game.
This is the seventh and final game for Team USA and the old saying is to "dance with who brought ya," so DeRosa likely wants to stick with his horses. The last words from his press conference Sunday night were, "job's not done," so I'm not expecting him to get cute.
With that in mind, the best bet is McLean gets as deep as he can and then for the last three innings, DeRosa goes back to the Bednar-Whitlock-Miller trio. In between is a question, but the heavy lifting will be McLean, Bednar, Whitlock and Miller. It's the finals and this isn't the time to mess around. If there are some MLB coaches annoyed at the workload for those latter three, so be it. Dealing with the fallout while holding up the championship trophy is a small price to pay.
