Three lessons Team USA can take away from World Baseball Classic loss, including to have a little fun

The American bats fell flat in Tuesday night's title game loss to Venezuela

The most talented World Baseball Classic roster ever assembled by Team USA still count not get over the hump. Venezuela outlasted USA in a thrilling WBC Championship Game Tuesday night in Miami (VEN 3, USA 2). Bryce Harper tied the game with a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth, but Eugenio Suárez put Venezuela ahead for good with a go-ahead double in the top of the ninth. It is Venezuela's first ever international championship in baseball.

"I'm always fired up for the Yankees, but I'm still pissed about this," USA captain Aaron Judge said after the WBC title game loss. "I'm looking forward to the next time we get a chance to put on the red, white, and blue, and take care of business"  

After beating up on Brazil and Great Britain in their first two games, USA's offense massively underperformed the rest of the WBC. They scored four runs total in their final two games, all on home runs. USA did not take a single at-bat with a runner in scoring position in the Championship Game. They had three hits (two singles and Harper's homer) in the title game overall. For the most part, USA's pitching was fantastic. The blame lies squarely on the offense.

Building a dream Team USA roster for the 2030 World Baseball Classic Dayn Perry

Venezuela's WBC win qualifies as an upset, but not a big one. This isn't the Rockies sweeping four games from the Dodgers. Venezuela is an excellent team and this is yet another example that in a single-elimination format, anything can happen, especially when the two teams are reasonably evenly matched. That said, there are a few lessons USA can take from their second straight WBC title game loss. Here are three:

1. Keep recruiting the best players

When a star-studded roster falls flat, it's easy to fall into the trap of thinking you need the "right" players, not the best players. Don't fall for it. Baseball is a series of individual sports masquerading as a team sport. In a short best-on-best tournament with a single-game elimination component, you want the best available hitters at the plate as often as possible and the best available pitchers on the mound as often as possible. Put anything less on the field and you're doing yourself a disservice.

USA had what I'll call their "A" roster in the WBC, but not quite their "A+" roster. Tarik Skubal made just one start, Corbin Carroll had to withdraw due to injury, and Garrett Crochet declined to participate. Otherwise USA assembled the best possible roster and, much like 2023, they were in it right until the end. Losing the Championship Game to a very good team by one run is not a cause for overhauling your roster-building philosophy. Don't overthink it. Keep building Dream Teams, USA.

2. Bring in more experienced coaches

USA manager Mark DeRosa certainly didn't cover himself in glory this WBC. The debacle with Italy, whether he thought USA had clinched a spot in the quarterfinals or not, is the sort of thing that can make a manager unhireable at the next level. It goes beyond DeRosa though. USA's coaching staff is loaded with great former players, yes, but also guys short on actual coaching experience. I mean, USA's staff was basically MLB Network analysts and friends:

• Manager: Mark DeRosa (no managerial experience)
• Hitting coaches: Sean Casey (limited hitting coach experience) and Matt Holliday (no MLB coaching experience)
• Pitching coach: Andy Pettitte (no coaching experience)

USA had former managers in David Ross (bullpen coach) and Fredi Gonzalez (assistant coach), albeit in limited roles. USA's most qualified coaches were first base coach George Lombard and third base coach Dino Ebel. Ebel has been the Dodgers' third base coach since 2019. Lombard was the Dodgers' first base coach from 2016-20 before becoming the Tigers' bench coach. Those two had a wealth of experience at their positions and with winning teams. Everyone else on the staff? Not so much.

You're not going to pry an active manager or active hitting/pitching coaches away from teams in spring training. But do Bruce Bochy, Joe Girardi, or Buck Showalter have anything better to do in March? Are there any hitting/pitching coaches who were recently let go and are well-versed in building a modern gameplan? Casey, Holliday, and Pettitte were great, great players, but we have countless examples of great players being not-so-great coaches. A little experience in USA's dugout wouldn't hurt.

3. Loosen up

The WBC was 19 teams having the time of their lives and the 20th team cosplaying as soldiers about to storm the gates. Team USA chose to represent themselves through military jingoism, performative tough guy acts, and a suffocating seriousness. For all their talent, it was a pretty bland and joyless team. Baseball is fun and it's OK to celebrate that. I know this because teams that have fun and celebrate their fans have now beaten USA in back-to-back WBC title games.

This is a systemic issue not limited to Team USA or even baseball. All the way down to the amateur level, celebration and an outgoing personality are discouraged if not shouted down in sports, and it sucks. It's OK to be happy playing a kid's game and it's OK to show it. If you can't see that watching the WBC, I don't know what to tell you. I'm not sure Team USA's vibe will ever change -- this is too ingrained in American culture -- but being less uptight would go a long way. Relax, have fun, and good things will happen.