Brutal Kyle Teel injury gives former Twins catcher golden WBC opportunity

Team Italy shocked the baseball world by defeating star-studded Team USA 8-6 at Daikin Park in Houston last night. With the victory, the espresso-drinking underdogs put the United States' chances to advance to the quarterfinals in jeopardy, as Team USA now either needs Italy to beat Mexico tonight or Mexico to beat Italy while scoring five or more runs (assuming it's a nine-inning game) to make it past pool play despite holding a 3-1 record.

Kyle Teel suffers brutal injury during Italy's shocking upset against Team USA

While it was a magical night for the Italians, the team suffered a brutal injury, with Chicago White Sox catcher Kyle Teel exiting the game after feeling hamstring discomfort while legging out a double during the sixth inning.

It's a brutal blow for Italy. Teel, 24, hit a solo homer in the second inning of the game and scored on a two-run homer from Jac Caglione during the fourth inning after reaching base via a walk. Before Italy's upset against the United States, the White Sox catcher went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles against Brazil on Saturday. Now, Italy will be without one of its best players for the rest of the tournament.

J.J. D'Orazio is Italy's other catcher on the roster. D'Orazio, who's gone 3-for-5 with a homer this tournament, will likely be Italy's starting catcher for the rest of the WBC, which could end for Italy tonight.

With Teel's injury, Italy still needed to add another catcher to the roster in case D'Orazio also gets hurt. According to Audacy Sports' Rob Bradford this morning, former Twin Mickey Gasper is headed to Houston to replace Teel on Italy's roster.

Brutal Kyle Teel injury gives former Twin Mickey Gasper huge WBC opportunity

As stated earlier, D'Orazio will likely be Italy's starting catcher for the remainder of the tournament. Still, Gasper could receive a late-game pinch-hit opportunity or enter the game as the catcher if Italy wants a pinch-runner for D'Orazio at some point. And if D'Orazio suffers an injury, Gasper will become the team's starting catcher.

It's a big opportunity for Gasper, who hit just .158/.257/.232 (37 OPS+) with two homers, one double and 11 RBI in 110 plate appearances with the Twins in 2025. Now a member of the Boston Red Sox, Gasper has the chance to win a World Baseball Classic championship for Italy.

Italy's game against Mexico is scheduled to begin at 6:00 p.m. CST tonight. The game will be available to stream on FS1.