Aaron Judge Had Blunt Answer to Question About Feeling Pressure After His Brutal WBC Final

Team USA once again fell short of winning the WBC title as they lost to Venezuela, 3-2, in Tuesday night’s thrilling championship game at LoanDepot Park in Miami. The U.S. tied the game in the bottom of the eighth inning on a Bryce Harper two-run home run but then failed to rally in the bottom of the ninth after giving up the go-ahead run to Venezuela in the top of the frame.

It was a disappointing finish for a U.S. team that had a lineup full of big-name players but could only score a combined four runs in the semifinal and championship games.

Leading that group was Yankees star Aaron Judge, who served as team captain for the tournament. The two-time reigning American League MVP struggled in the title game, going 0-for-4 at the plate with three strikeouts. He went 1-for-4 with a single in the semifinal win over the Dominican Republic.

Safe to say a lot more was expected from Judge in these huge games and he failed to come close to reaching those expectations as he had just that one hit and no RBIs.

After the game Judge was asked if he felt pressure being the leader of the team.

"My job was to go out there and bring a championship and the gold home,” Judge said. “We didn't do that. But there's no pressure. When you have a team like this, you just go out there and do your job."

Aaron Judge was asked if he felt more pressure as the captain of Team USA:

"My job was to go out there and bring a championship and the gold home. We didn't do that. But there's no pressure. When you have a team like this, you just go out there and do your job" pic.twitter.com/43ukfxkrzq
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) March 18, 2026

You have to think Judge felt a little pressure because again, he’s the back-to-back AL MVP and has been one of the most feared hitters in baseball in recent years. For him not to step up and make a difference in either of the last two games was not great.

Judge also spoke about what went wrong for Team USA’s offense against Venezuela.

“They made their pitches, worked the corners on both sides,” Judge said. “When we did get a pitch we either popped it up or hit it on the ground. Stuff like that can’t happen. When you get a pitch to hit, you have to be able to drive. Even if you get one pitch in a game, you got to do something with it. They executed their pitches and their gameplan. And we just couldn’t get rolling offensively."

Aaron Judge on facing Venezuela:

"When we did get a pitch we either popped it up or hit it on the ground. Stuff like that can't happen. When you get a pitch to hit, you gotta be able to drive it" pic.twitter.com/7CDVFKoEzJ
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) March 18, 2026

Team USA manager Mark DeRosa had an excuse for the team’s offensive struggles

DeRosa, who took some heat during the WBC over comments he made during pool play, said after Tuesday night’s loss that he thought the offensive struggles had to do with the time of the year and players still trying to get the rust off from the offseason.

"Surprised because of the names on the back," he said when asked about the team’s quiet bats. "Not surprised because where they’re at at spring training... That’s my answer. I don’t really have a rhyme or reason as to why. You’re either hot or not in a seven-game blast like this."