MIAMI – Having managed Canada in every World Baseball Classic, former Toronto Blue Jays catcher Ernie Whitt knows what it means for his club to advance to the quarterfinals for the first time.
“We’re extremely proud that we’re moving forward. It took us a long time to do it,” said Whitt. Canada had never advanced out of pool play in the five previous WBC’s, and tonight, they’ll face the United States at Daikin Park in Houston at 8 p.m. EDT. “We now have some real good positional players. We have some real good arms out there that are performing for us to move forward. I’m excited about that.”
At the plate, Owen Caissie and Abraham Toro lead Canada with five RBIs each, while Cal Quantrill and retired Major Leaguer James Paxton, known as “The Big Maple” during his playing days, both have 0.00 ERAs and have combined for 13 strikeouts.
Paxton, perhaps, has been the biggest find for Canada. The 11-year MLB vet last pitched in 2024, throwing 100 1/3 innings for the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers before retiring. He got off the couch to represent Canada in the WBC and appears to have not lost any form, with his fastball still touching 97 mph.
“He wanted to come and come out of retirement, get off the couch, and come and throw for Team Canada because he’s never done that before. He’s experienced league championships and played at the highest level in Major League Baseball, but he never represented the country. I think that was the biggest thing for him,” Whitt said.
Now, Paxton, Whitt, et al. will face the United States in the third major showdown between Canadian and U.S. sports teams in a month, after the two countries squared off for gold in men’s and women’s ice hockey in the Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy. The U.S. took both the gold medals in hockey, a sport that began in Canada, and now Canada has a chance to eliminate the United States in baseball, America’s pastime.
The matchup was set up by the U.S.’s 8-6 loss to Italy in the Americans’ final game of pool play, a game where U.S. manager DeRosa sat five starters, including the big bats of Alex Bregman, Cal Raleigh, and Bryce Harper, the absence of whom likely made at least something of a difference in the game.
Then, comments from DeRosa made in an appearance on MLB Network, where DeRosa works when he isn’t managing Team USA, appeared to reveal that DeRosa was unaware of where his team stood going into the Italy game.
“Ton of respect for Italy. It’s weird,” DeRosa said. “We want to win this game even though our ticket is punched to the quarterfinals because Mexico plays Italy actually tomorrow. So the way the schedule lines up, this is an important game.”
They, of course, hadn’t clinched and needed Italy to beat Mexico or a certain number of runs to be scored had Mexico beaten Italy to advance. They got it, of course, but DeRosa continued to step on rakes in front of the media, proclaiming that it was a false narrative that his team didn’t take the game against Italy seriously.
If DeRosa and his club win tonight behind San Francisco Giants starter Logan Webb, taking the third major matchup for the U.S. against Canada in the last month, perhaps all will be forgotten. If they lose to Canada, though, DeRosa’s comments will be what the U.S. remembers about this World Baseball Classic, and with good reason. A win against Italy would have gotten the U.S. a matchup with Puerto Rico, the second-place finisher in San Juan’s Pool A, rather than Canada, which won the pool.
Canada will start Michael Soroka, who allowed one run on four hits with a walk and two strikeouts in his only start for Canada in pool play in Puerto Rico.
“The team has really come together. We’ve gelled. I try to look at positives and negatives, and we still left way too many people on base. We still made some mistakes we shouldn’t have. Hopefully as we go forward, we will clean those up,” Whitt said. “As far as the organization is concerned and representing our country, you couldn’t ask for more. We’re very excited from the top all the way down to the bottom. It’s been a lot of hard work, a lot of phone calls, but we’re going one more step, and we’re not done with that.”
The $2.3 Billion Dollar Lineup Faces South Korea – In Friday’s other semifinal, the Dominican Republic will face South Korea at loanDepot Park in Miami at 6:30 p.m. EDT.
The Dominicans lead the tournament in runs scored (41) and home runs (14), having hit four home runs in a game twice during pool play, becoming the first team to do so in a WBC. One more homer and they’ll pass Mexico’s 2009 team for the most homers by team in WBC history.
Facing South Korea is venturing into something of an unknown for Albert Pujols and the Dominican Republic.
“It is important to trust the players and the scouts. So far, they have done a great, fantastic job,” Pujols said. “We don’t know them a lot, but I don’t think they know us. So we are going to do our job, the same job that we have been doing with the hitters and the pitchers. We’ll try to obtain the positive results on Friday.”
Following South Korea’s 7-2 win over Australia at the Tokyo Dome that closed pool play, a must-win game for his club to advance, manager Ji Hyun-Ryu said he hadn’t really thought ahead to the coming quarterfinal matchup against the Dominican Republic.
“We just finished today’s game, and today’s game was so important, and we are almost on the edge. This was a must-win game with a certain condition, and all of our members, including coaches, went out with a hundred percent concentration. So that’s what we did,” Ji said. “So starting from tomorrow, let’s get great rest tonight, and make the brain empty. Starting from tomorrow, let’s think about the quarterfinal.”
Coming off a three-day layoff that included travel from Tokyo to Miami, a roughly 15-hour flight, South Korea will start former Toronto Blue Jay Hyun Jin Ryu, who allowed a run on three hits in three innings, striking out three is his only apperance thus far. He’ll face Philadelphia Phillies starter Cristopher Sanchez for the D.R., who had a rough start against Nicaragua, surrendering three runs on six hits in 1 1/3 innings to the team that finished last in Pool D.
“Maybe he didn’t have the best performance he wanted to have. At the same time, he wrote history today. He struck out four hitters. So you have to look at the positives. The sinker was not good, but the curve was perfect,” Pujols said of Sanchez following the D.R.’s opener. “So these are the emotions of the first game in this kind of tournament. That first inning I was looking at Cristopher; he never lost his calm, and he was able to strike out four players.”
A win tonight will move the Dominican Republic on to the semifinal since 2013, when the D.R. won the title, beating Puerto Rico 2-0 at Oracle Park in San Francisco. For South Korea, a win would mark the country’s return to the semifinals for the first time since the 2009 WBC, when they lost 10-2 in the semifinals at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. After making the semifinals at the first two WBCs, South Korea has yet to return.
Quartfinal Schedule
All times Eastern Daylight Time
Friday, March 13
6:30 p.m. – South Korea vs. Dominican Republic – loanDepot Park – TV: FS2
8 p.mm – Canada vs. United States – Daikin Park – TV: FOX
Saturday, March 14
3 p.m. – Puerto Rico vs. Italy – Daikin Park – TV: FS1
9 p.m. – Venezuela vs. Japan – loanDepot Park – TV: FOX
Photo: United Staes manager Mark DeRosa pauses in the team dugout prior to an exhibition baseball game against the Colorado Rockies Wednesday, March 4, 2026, in Scottsdale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
