MLB Network’s Dan Plesac predicted Gunnar Henderson’s ‘monster night’ in WBC semis

Dan Plesac has made this kind of prediction before.

Before Game 1 of last October’s World Series, Plesac told Greg Amsinger on MLB Network that Addison Barger — who wasn’t even in the starting lineup — would come off the bench and “run into one” to send Rogers Centre into a frenzy. Barger did exactly that, and Amsinger declared Plesac a genius on air.

On Sunday night in Miami, Plesac picked up right where he left off.

During pregame coverage of Team USA’s semifinal against the Dominican Republic, Plesac went on the record during a segment titled “Homer Huunches” with a specific player, a specific pitcher, and a specific outcome.

“The world is going to find out about Gunnar Henderson tonight,” he said. “He has a good history against Luis Severino. He’s swinging the bat really well. Gunnar Henderson, four hits, and he’s going to have a monster night.”

MLB Network’s Dan Plesac was all over Gunnar Henderson having a big night for Team USA… pic.twitter.com/BWijGMJGYo

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 16, 2026

Henderson stepped into the box against Severino in the fourth inning, worked the count full over nine pitches, and turned on a cutter and sent it 400 feet to right center to tie the game at one.

USA went on to win 2-1 in a game that delivered everything a WBC semifinal is supposed to. Paul Skenes gutted through 4.1 innings against a Dominican lineup that had been the most dangerous offense in the tournament, allowing just Junior Caminero’s solo shot in the second. Roman Anthony, a 21-year-old who three years ago had bought a ticket to watch the 2023 final at this same ballpark as a minor leaguer, followed Henderson’s homer with a 421-foot blast to give the USA the 2-1 lead. Mason Miller closed it in the ninth, though the final out — a called strike three on Geraldo Perdomo on a slider clearly below the zone — left a bitter taste in what had been an otherwise brilliant game.

The prediction carried extra resonance given how the week had looked for Team USA coming in. As we covered after the Italy loss, DeRosa had rested Bryce Harper, Alex Bregman, Cal Raleigh, Byron Buxton, and Brice Turang for a game the manager appeared to believe was already decided, telling MLB Network’s Hot Stove beforehand that the team’s ticket was “punched to the quarterfinals.” It wasn’t. The Americans lost 8-6 to Italy — with Henderson, who did start, striking out to end the game — and what followed was several days of questions about whether DeRosa had the judgment to manage a roster this talented on a stage this big. His account of the comments shifted in the days that followed, and while Adam Wainwright offered a substantive defense — arguing that the players DeRosa inserted actually hit, and that the real failure against Italy was the pitching — the skepticism hadn’t fully dissipated by the time Sunday arrived. What did dissipate it was watching Henderson homer in the fourth inning of a 2-1 win that sends Team USA to the championship game, off the exact pitcher Plesac had identified by name before the first pitch was thrown, in a game that sends USA to the championship, settled at least some of it.