Few baseball players have had careers as remarkable as Álex Rodríguez, and when one of the greatest of all time speaks, people listen. A-Rod was part of the pre and postgame coverage of Monday night’s World Baseball Classic semifinal matchup between Italy and Venezuela, and the 14-time All-Star heaped praise onto young Philadelphia Phillies prospect Dante Nori.
The 21-year-old Nori burst onto the national scene in this year’s WBC, posting a ridiculous 1.185 OPS across six games for Team Italy. Heading into the tournament, most fans expected Nori to serve as just a bench piece, but the 2024 first-round pick forced his way into a starting job in left field.