Guardians infielder could become unlikely hero for Team Italy in WBC semifinal

For the past two years, Brayan Rocchio introduced all of Northeast Ohio to “Rocctober” by putting together great performances in the postseason. 

Now he’s going to get a chance to introduce all of Italy to that phenomenon — albeit seven months earlier than usual.

On Saturday, Team Italy manager Francisco Cervelli announced that Rocchio would be joining Team Italy ahead of the country’s WBC semifinal against Venezuela in place of Cubs infielder iles Mastrobuoni, who suffered a calf injury. 

Rocchio, who is a native of Caracas, Venezuela, has Italian grandparents, which makes him eligible to play in the game. 

Brayan Rocchio could author a signature moment for Team Italy in the WBC semifinals 

Although Rocchio’s been a bit of an up-and-down performer for the past three seasons of Guardians, he seems to play his best when the lights are the brightest. 

“Rocctober” first became a thing in 2024 when he hit .333 with a home run in 10 games in the postseason, but he failed to build on that momentum in 2025 and was demoted to Triple-A halfway through the season. 

But he returned to the roster in July and slowly morphed his back into an everyday player while also transitioning into a full-time second baseman. 

He ended up slashing .233/.290/.340 in 115 regular season games for the Guardians last season. 

He added to his Cleveland legacy at the end of the year with a walk-off home run against the Rangers in the final game of the regular season that confirmed the Guardians would win the American League Central before also slugging a huge home run in the postseason. 

Now he’s going to join an Italian team that’s shocked the baseball world by making it all the way to the World Baseball Classic semifinal. 

While the Italians have a lineup made up primarily of big leaguers, they entered the WBC in Pool B that included Team Mexico and Team USA. They ended up going undefeated in pool play and defeated Puerto Rico 8-6 in the quarterfinals on Saturday to clinch a spot in the semis. 

Rocchio’s slashed .313/.389/.531 in 12 games this spring with one home run, four doubles and four RBI, but that’s obviously a different environment than the one that he’s going to find himself in in Miami later tonight. 

That strong spring has all but confirmed that Rocchio is going to be the Guardians’ second baseman on Opening Day, and the WBC being so close to the start of the regular season shouldn’t impact that. 

“... He's going to go for the next one or two games and then be back,” manager Stephen Vogt said, per MLB.com’s Tim Stebbins and Jared Greenspan. “So it was stay [in Arizona] and play two games, or go and play two games.”