Team USA Pitching Coach Andy Pettitte Admits He Hasn't Prepared For The Dominican Republic Powerhouse

Team USA hung on to beat Canada 5-3 on Friday night and advance to the World Baseball Classic semifinals against the Dominican Republic on Sunday night. A result only possible because they were bailed out by Team Italy beating Mexico after the US manager, Mark DeRosa, apparently miscalculated the tiebreaker rules of the tournament. 

Their schedule up until now has been reasonably favorable: they played Brazil in the first game of the tournament, then Great Britain, Mexico, and Italy. 

But things are about to get much, much harder Sunday night against the Dominican Republic. The DR's lineup is unquestionably the best in the tournament, with stars like Juan Soto, Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado, Julio Rodriguez, Ketel Marte, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and Junior Caminero. 

Sounds like a team that you'd want to have prep work dialed in for, right? Well, that's precisely the opposite of what the team's pitching coach, Andy Pettitte, said after Friday's win.

HOUSTON, TEXAS - MARCH 05: Pitching coach Andy Pettitte #46 of Team USA looks on during 2026 World Baseball Classic Pool B Workouts at Daikin Park on March 05, 2026 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Houston Astros/Getty Images)

Andy Pettitte Says He Hasn't Prepared Team For Dominican Republic

"I'm not going to lie," Pettitte told reporters. "I've been underwater trying to get ready for all of our games."

That's not what you want to hear! And to be fair to Pettitte, generally Major League teams have entire research and analytics departments whose job is to prepare detailed statistical reports on all the hitters on the opposing team. Team USA doesn't have that type of infrastructure. But still, the Dominican Republic is the team you need to beat to win the tournament, all due respect to Italy, Japan and Venezuela. 

Thankfully, the off day will give them time to catch up, and Team USA is sending one of the best two pitchers in the world to the mound on Sunday, in the form of Paul Skenes. 

Outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong said he believes the energy from what will be a heavily pro-DR crowd will help the team, and Skenes, perform their best. "We want the electricity, the energy of the crowd," he said in the postgame interview. "That’s why we’re throwing Mr. Skenes out there for whatever he’s going to give. It’s going to be good."

Well, hopefully it's good. If not, we might have a lack of preparation to blame. Which seems to be an unfortunately common theme around Team USA this tournament. Oh, and not having the other best pitcher on the planet available because he's pitching in meaningless spring training exhibition games.