Trout agreed, Aaron Judge's USA Captain Ohtani! Gucci
Apr 16, 2025
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New York Yankees 'Captain" Aaron Judge has been named to the United States national team"Captain" Mark Derosa, the head coach of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) U.S. national team, said on the 15th (Korea time) "We have decided to entrust Judge with the captain of the U.S. national team in 2026"
This is the first time Judge will participate in the WBC. He was asked to participate by Derosa at the time of the 2023 WBC, but has refused. It was shortly after he re-signed with the Yankees for nine years and $360 million. The reason was that he could not skip spring training to prepare for the first season of his long-term contract as the team's captain.
However, as time passed, the position changed. There is no justification to refuse to participate in the WBC.
In an interview with MLB Network on the same day, he said, `I got the opportunity to represent our country. This country means a lot to me."Honestly, when the national anthem is played at every game, it is an opportunity to reflect on the men and women who have fought bravely for this country. I am given another opportunity to step into the ballpark and play the game that I love." It is the opposite of what it was three years ago.
He went on to say, "It's a really great opportunity to have USA engraved in my heart and represent all the great people of our country and represent American values. I've never had an opportunity like this since I was young. I'm looking forward to it"I had a chance before I got this old, but coach Derosa didn't want me anymore."
"Jersey is the perfect captain of Team USA," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.
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Coach Derosa will now begin in earnest the selection of the national team to achieve his WBC championship goal with Judge. The most hotly watched player is Los Angeles Angels Mike Trout. In March 2023, he was the last batter in the 5th WBC final and struck out Shohei Ohtani (LA Dodgers) of the Japanese national team.
Director Derosa said "I spoke to Trout on the phone yesterday. It told us where we are going now. Trout said 'He's the one' In other words, Trout agreed that Judge is the captain of the U.S. national team.
However, it is unclear whether Trout will participate in this WBC. Trout also has good momentum early this season. His batting average is low at 0.196 (11 hits in 56 at-bats), but he has six home runs, 14 RBIs, and an OPS of 0.835. He is a home run leader with Judge, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Kyle Schwarber.
The position where the U.S. is expected to face difficulties in convening the national team is the starting pitcher. This is because pitchers preparing for the season consider it dangerous to leave their team's spring training. Derosa said, `If we bring together players who want to participate in the field, we will be able to use five lineups. The part that we have to deal with is the pitching staff.
The U.S. will play England, Brazil, Italy and Mexico in Group B of the WBC. The Group B league will be held at Houston's Minute Maid Park on March 7-12 next year. The U.S. won only once in 2017.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
