Team Italy reaches the World Baseball Classic semi-finals thanks to Cleveland Guardians pitching prospect Dylan DeLucia.
Team Italy continues to be the Cinderella story of the 2026 World Baseball Classic. The Italian national team has advanced to the semi-finals with its victory over Puerto Rico on Saturday.
Italy keeps on winning, in part, thanks to the help from a Cleveland Guardians prospect, who came up in a big way in their quarter-final win: pitcher Dylan DeLucia.
DeLucia didn’t start the game for Italy, but he was certainly the pitcher to put the game on ice while the offense started to pile runs on the board.
He came into the game in the third inning and pitched 4.0 clean innings of work, allowing just two hits while issuing zero walks and striking out three batters.
The 25-year-old’s outing gets even more impressive when you see who some of the current and former big-leaguers he got out. DeLucia forced Nolan Arenado and Willi Castro to ground out while punching out players such as Eddie Rosario and Heliot Ramos.
DeLucia primarily threw his fastball in the outing, which had a max velocity of 94.1 mph and an average velocity of 93.1 mph. The righty’s second-best pitch was easily his slider, which generated two swings-and-misses. He also threw a sweeper and a changeup in the outing.
Throughout the tournament, DeLucia has now pitched 7.2 innings and has only given up four hits and two earned runs (2.35 ERA).
DeLucia was originally drafted by the Guardians in the sixth round of the 2022 MLB Draft. Unfortunately, he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2023, which meant he didn’t make his first appearance for a Cleveland affiliate until 2024.
Even though DeLucia didn’t have a typical start to his professional career, he’s making up for lost time and has been a bright spot in the Guardians organization. In 37 Minor League games, 35 of those being starts, the right-hander owns a 3.25 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP.
DeLucia started the 2025 season with the Lake County Captains (High-A) and finally got the promotion to the Akron RubberDucks (Double-A) in June. After being promoted to Double-A, DeLucia recorded a 3.19 ERA with 8.81 K/9 in 13 starts.
With Cleveland’s current pitching depth, DeLucia will likely start this season at Double-A, too. However, his strong showing with Team Italy in the World Baseball Classic could set him up for a big year, and who knows where DeLucia could end up by the end of the 2026 season.
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