© Troy Taormina/Imagn
Team USA starting pitcher and San Francisco Giants ace Logan Webb isn’t a fan of people claiming that Americans didn’t care about the World Baseball Classic.
The U.S. entered the tournament as one of the favorites alongside defending champion Japan and perennial powerhouse Dominican Republic. But that all came apart, first when they lost to upstart Italy in pool play, then when they ultimately fell to Venezuela in the championship game.
A number of American fans have since slammed Team USA both for not caring enough and for being wholly unlikable, although your mileage may vary on the latter.
Webb, who started and won a pair of games for the U.S., says the idea that the team lost because it didn’t care enough is “bulls–.”
“I feel like there’s a narrative that we didn’t care,” he said per Justice delos Santos of the Mercury News. “That’s complete bull—-. I think we probably cared the most out of every team, to be honest with you. We do things in different ways than some of the other teams, but we care a lot.”
On one hand, it’s hard to blame Webb. He did his part in both stars he made, and he, personally, seems to have cared a lot. Does that apply to the entirety of the team? Well, it’s hard to argue that it does.
Superstar pitcher Tarik Skubal made one start, in pool play, before leaving the team to return to Spring Training with the Detroit Tigers. Shutdown closer Mason Miller was only able to pitch in the final if it were a save situation, which never developed.
Ultimately, nobody except for the players in the locker room knows how much Team USA cared as a whole. The only thing we do know is that when the moment arrived, Team USA didn’t rise to meet it, and that’s been a disturbing trend in the World Baseball Classic.