Rocchio set to join Team Italy for Classic semifinal vs. Venezuela
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Guardians infielder Brayan Rocchio is joining Team Italy for the World Baseball Classic ahead of the team’s semifinal matchup with Venezuela on Monday, manager Francisco Cervelli announced on Sunday.
Rocchio replaces Mariners infielder Miles Mastrobuoni, who suffered a calf injury during Italy’s victory over the U.S. in pool play.
Rocchio was born in Caracas, Venezuela, and has Italian grandparents. Team Italy contacted the Guardians earlier this week inquiring about the 25-year-old’s availability for the Classic, but his status was a question mark as recently as Saturday.
Had Italy lost to Puerto Rico in the WBC quarterfinals on Saturday, Rocchio would have obviously stayed with the Guardians in Arizona. Italy went on to win, 8-6, but not without some drama. Team Italy led 8-2 after four innings, but Puerto Rico closed the gap with a four-run eighth inning.
While that game played out in Miami, Rocchio started at second base and went 1-for-3 in the Guardians’ 8-5 loss to the Padres at Peoria Stadium.
“It was a [matter of] if they won yesterday, he would go,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said on Sunday. “It was very much a minute-by-minute [situation]. Puerto Rico started climbing back. So we're like, ‘OK, maybe he's not going. OK, he is going.’
“... He's going to go for the next one or two games and then be back. So it was stay [in Arizona] and play two games, or go and play two games.”
Italy will play Venezuela on Monday in Miami (8 p.m. ET, FS1). If Team Italy advances, it would square off against Team USA or the Dominican Republic in Tuesday’s championship game.
Rocchio is set to open the season as the Guardians’ starting second baseman. He hit .233/.290/.340 in 115 games during the 2025 season, and the switch-hitter has shown a knack for the big moment in his brief three-year MLB career.
In 13 career playoff games, Rocchio is hitting .310 with an .883 OPS, earning him the moniker “Playoff Rocchio.”
Last season, Rocchio clubbed a go-ahead home run in Game 2 of the American League Wild Card Series against the Tigers, vaulting the Guardians to their only victory of the series. Just a few days earlier, Rocchio launched a walk-off three-run homer in the 10th inning as Cleveland clinched the AL Central title.
Rocchio’s next chance at another big hit will come on Monday night, in one of baseball's best environments.