WBC intensity fuels Joe La Sorsa's drive to make the Pittsburgh Pirates' opening-day bullpen.
Once a player has appeared in a World Baseball Classic, Grapefruit League, and Cactus League games, they seem even more trivial.
Carrying the intensity of pressure-packed games into spring training can be difficult. Left-handed reliever Joe La Sorsa, who is in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ spring training camp on a minor-league contract, understands that.
La Sorsa starred in this year’s WBC, helping Team Italy go unbeaten in pool play, upsetting the United States, and losing to champion Venezuela in the semifinals.
La Sorsa made four relief appearances and allowed two runs in 2 2/3 innings for a 6.75 ERA. Beyond raising the profile of baseball in his motherland, La Sorsa also feels like he is ready to make a push for a spot in the Pirates’ bullpen during the final days of spring training.
“I’m ready to go for the regular season right now. I'll say that,” La Sorsa said Wednesday when he returned to Pittsburgh's camp in Bradenton, Fla. “I am definitely 100 percent locked and loaded mentally and physically.”
La Sorsa pitched on back-to-back days and three times in four days for Italy, while MLB teams rarely use relievers so often before the season’s end.
Italian manager Francisco Cervelli, a former Pirates catcher, was focused on winning. La Sorsa accepted the heavy workload and said he feels fine.
"You don’t think about that. Once you're there, your mindset shifts and you focus on winning," La Sorsa said. "In Florida, spring training is about easing into it, as you're supposed to. But in the WBC, all that goes out the window."
Listen, I have to play and compete for my country. I got a win for my teammates and everyone back home rooting for me. That goes out the window. You hope you don't get hurt, you perform well, and you move on. You've got to take it, say this is what you have to do, and do it.”
La Sorsa’s adrenaline from the WBC still lingers, clear from his enthusiastic recounting.
“It was definitely the greatest experience of my life, pretty much anything that I've ever done.” La Sorsa said. “I know that I'm definitely going to want to go back and see all those guys again for the next one. The camaraderie and chemistry we had on the team were unparalleled. I'll definitely remember that for the rest of my life.”
The 27-year-old now must refocus on his bid to make Pittsburgh's opening day roster, as much of La Sorsa’s chances depend on whether the Pirates want to keep three lefty relievers. Gregory Soto and Mason Montgomery seem like locks to make the team.
La Sorsa has pitched parts of the past three seasons in the major leagues with the Tampa Bay Rays (2023), Washington Nationals (2023-24), and Cincinnati Reds (2025). He has a 1-3 record, one save, and a 5.01 ERA in 66 career games.
La Sorsa’s contract includes an upward mobility clause requiring the Pirates to keep him on their 26-man roster at the end of spring training next Wednesday or offer him to the other 29 major-league teams.
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