Aaron Judge, Yankees fans staring down the barrel of all-time Team USA embarrassment

Team USA manager Mark DeRosa made it his mission to recruit New York Yankees MVP Aaron Judge to captain his squad during the 2026 World Baseball Classic. The early returns looked extremely promising, but it all turned on a dime, and the US no longer control its own destiny to escape pool play.

Why? Well, Italy has been the biggest surprise of the tournament, starting 3-0 and capturing an historic 8-6 victory over the United States on Tuesday night. It's possible that could've been avoided had DeRosa not managed like his team had already gotten a pass to the quarterfinals.

Because ... it appears he actually thought that before Tuesday night's game started. In a clip that has since been removed from MLB's YouTube page, DeRosa vocalized that the US had punched its ticket out of pool play despite that not being the case whatsoever.

Then Italy jumped out to a 1-0 lead. Then 3-0. Then before you knew it, it was 8-0. And now the US will have to sweat out the result of Italy vs Mexico on Wednesday to know their fate for the rest of the WBC.

If Italy wins, both Italy and the United States advance. If Mexico wins by four or fewer runs, Mexico and Italy advance. If Mexico wins by five or more runs, Mexico and the US advance. Though multiple scenarios favor the US, it's not a good position to be in after being considered a favorite to win it all.

Yankees fans facing more Aaron Judge-based criticism at World Baseball Classic

Not only that, but Judge struck out to end Tuesday's game vs Italy. He represented the tying run against Red Sox reliever Greg Weissert. To no surprise, Boston fans had their fun ripping into Judge, while the rest of the baseball community laid into the three-time MVP for failing to come up clutch in a big moment, even though he has two homers, five RBI, five walks (.429 on-base percentage) and an incredible outfield assist in four games as the clear catalyst on offense.

But the same narrative continues to plague Judge. He finds himself in countless high-leverage situations late in games but can't come through. Sometimes he does, and the Yankees can't finish the job. Sometimes his offensive impact comes early in the game to help set the tone. But it's the pressure-packed moments where Judge hasn't exactly delivered in front of a national audience, leading to unfair and sardonic online vitriol.

We find it funny how Judge's 0-for-4 effort is in the crosshairs after a game in which the pitching staff imploded against Italy and his manager put out a weaker lineup because he erroneously believed they advanced to the next round of play. But that's how it goes when you play for the Yankees and are the reigning MVP. Everyone pretending not to be impressed by Judge's offensive success against "inferior talent" are the very same people holding his feet to the fire every time he makes an out. It's a really boring and predictable world out there, full of dolts and insecure losers hiding behind avatars.

Was striking out on four pitches against one of his arch rivals a bad look? Of course, we're not going to deny that. But where was the rest of the lineup when Michael Lorenzen cruised through 4 2/3 scoreless innings? What about Brad Keller single-handedly killing his team's chances with an error and a wild pitch, both of which allowed runs to score? And what about DeRosa, who is supposed to keep the team on cruise control but made a ridiculous assumption that could lead to the most embarrassing WBC moment in the country's history? Judge is the low-hanging fruit for all the tired acts out there.

Yankees fans, you know where your second rooting interest lies. Get out your white tank and make your Sunday sauce on Wednesday. Your entire week has been upended.