USA Baseball announced Thursday that Mark DeRosa will once again lead the United States at the 2026 World Baseball Classic, returning for his second straight tournament at the helm. DeRosa previously steered Team USA to a silver medal at the 2023 WBC.
“Getting the chance to share the clubhouse and dugout with USA's greatest staff and players was one of the highlights of my life,” said DeRosa. “I'm extremely grateful and fired up to get another opportunity to put 'USA' across my chest come March.”
USA Baseball also revealed the coaching staff that will join DeRosa in leading Team USA for the tournament next year, including former Cardinals Skip Schumaker as bench coach and Matt Holliday as hitting coach.
Fredi González (assistant manager) and David Ross (bullpen coach) will assist for the U.S., and former MLB All-Stars Brian McCann and Michael Young will also serve as assistant managers. Other coaches include Andy Pettitte (pitching coach), Dino Ebel (third base coach) and George Lombard (first base coach).
Schumaker appeared on the MLB Network show “MLB Central,” which is co-hosted by DeRosa, and talked about how “fired up” he is to have this opportunity.
“I am so excited to work next to DeRo (DeRosa),” Schumaker said. “This staff is absolutely incredible. I mean, those names, I’m just so excited to learn from these guys. We’re going to have the time of our lives.”
DeRosa, who played 96 games for the Cardinals in 2009 after he was acquired from Cleveland, reminisced about how he “hit it off immediately” with Schumaker and Holliday, adding that he absolutely wanted both of them to be part of the coaching staff, which Schumaker never could have imagined.
“I was shocked that you were so shocked [to be asked],” DeRosa said.
“I played for USA in 2006, and it was one of the best times of my life ... and I just couldn’t wait for the opportunity to get back and put the USA jersey on again,” Schumaker said. “I didn't know if that would happen, and so you giving me the opportunity to be part of this staff, I would have done anything, any role on this staff, and so it was just incredibly humbling.”
USA will host Pool B, with games held at Daikin Park in Houston March 6-11. Other teams in the group are Mexico, Italy, Great Britain and Brazil.
The top two teams from each of the four pools will advance to the quarterfinals in Houston and Miami, held March 13 and 14. The semifinals and finals will be held in Miami beginning on March 15.
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With all of the buzz surrounding the new “torpedo” bats used by the New York Yankees, there’s a separate oddity occasionally appearing in Yankees lineups early in the season that has kind of flown under the radar.
When New York faces a left-handed starter, manager Aaron Boone has been putting Paul Goldschmidt in the leadoff spot. It began in the second and third games of the season-opening series against the Milwaukee Brewers, and it was the first time the 37-year-old former Cardinals had ever batted in that spot.
Apparently, it worked.
In that March 4 contest, Goldschmidt hit the first pitch he saw for a home run. Cody Bellinger and Aaron Judge would follow up by doing the same thing, as the Yankees set a new MLB record by homering three straight times on only three pitches to begin a game. They would go on to win 20-9.
“I try to keep it simple, whether I’ve been struggling or having some success, just keep that same mindset,” Goldschmidt said. “Go out there and play hard and try to win.”
In the leadoff spot, Goldschmidt is hitting .364/.333/.636 with a .969 OPS. Overall, he has produced a slash line of .357/.403/.482, with 11 strikeouts in 56 at-bats.
“It’s been quality at-bats every day and I think he’s handled first really well,” Boone said. “He’s a pro. He’s game-within-the-game really well, always thinking through different situations, very situationally aware. Feel like his at-bat quality has been excellent.”
But Goldschmidt’s teammates commend him for providing much more than just a hot bat.
“He’s such a pro,” Judge said. “What he’s brought to this team, besides the performance on the field, just in the clubhouse, always speaking up in meetings, sharing his scouting reports, what he’s thinking. … He’s been a huge piece for us and he’s really been a catalyst for this offense getting things going.”
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Tommy Edman was not drafted for his power hitting.
During his college career at Stanford, Edman hit a grand total of four home runs. And in his five seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals, he never hit more than 13 in any one season, doing that in both 2022 and 2023.
But looking at the MLB leaderboard through Sunday’s games, Edman sits atop the league with six home runs, tied with sluggers such as Aaron Judge, Kyle Schwarber and Mike Trout.
“It’s a lot of guys who kind of look the same,” the 5-foot-9, 193-pounder joked. “And then there’s me.
“I’m really not trying to hit homers. More a side result of putting in some good work in the cage and having a better plan at the plate, doing my preparation and knowing how I’m trying to attack a pitcher.”
Overall, Edman is batting .250 entering play on Monday, and his slugging percentage of .563 would easily be the best of his career. Interestingly, Edman, who twice stole 30 or more bases for the Cardinals, has just one stolen base so far this season.
“He’s got a really good routine to keep his body strong,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “He does a good job of controlling the strike zone and finding pitches he can drive. And he’s taking good swings.”