On the day of their World Baseball Classic championship showdown against Venezuela, Team USA‘s title hopes have been dealt a significant blow. The Americans will most likely be missing a key relief pitcher.

David Bednar’s relief work against the Dominican Republic propelled the Americans to the finals. Bednar could have been instrumental for Team USA in the finale, but the New York Yankees insider, Greg Joyce, did not have any good news for the American fans.

Joyce took to X ahead of the final, revealing the latest blow to Team USA, “Doesn’t sound like David Bednar will be available for Team USA tonight in the WBC final. Boone did not want to commit one way or another, but acknowledged today would be his third time pitching in the last five days and some high pitch counts over past week.”

The New York Yankees signed a one-year, $9 million contract with Bednar for the 2026 season to avoid arbitration. Bednar has already pitched for Team USA in four games in the WBC. If he had opted to pitch in the final, it would have been his third time pitching in five days, a workload too high for this time of the Spring.

Though there have not been any injury scares in the WBC yet, the risks cannot be ignored. The Yankees and manager Aaron Boone found the situation less than ideal before the regular season even began. Boone, reportedly, found Bednar’s pitch count has been too high at this point in the season.

Bednar is not the only one shouldering this type of workload pressure at this time of the year. Mason Miller, another reliable arm for Team USA, will also pitch for the third time in five days when he takes the mound in the final.

After arriving from the Pittsburgh Pirates in a mid-season trade, Bednar quickly became an important piece for the Yankees. He went 4-0 in the 22 games he pitched for them last season. Bednar also logged 24.2 innings and 34 strikeouts with a 2.19 ERA. The right-hander displayed elite run prevention, allowing only one earned run in the postseason while maintaining a 1.50 ERA with 9 strikeouts.

Boone will be hoping to see more relief work from Bednar this year, and risking an injury at this point won’t be ideal. Bednar has thrown 79 pitches so far in the WBC, throwing an average of 19.75 pitches per appearance. It’s a workload almost equivalent to October baseball.

Against the Dominican Republic, Bednar delivered a scoreless inning in the tense semi-final, where Team USA won 2-1. He came in with two runners on second and third base. Bednar held the Dominicans off by striking out Fernando Tatis Jr. and Ketel Marte.

While Bednar remains unavailable for the final, Mark DeRosa will depend on Mason Miller to get the job done.

Team USA rests its hopes on Mason Miller

San Diego Padres pitcher Mason Miller has been an asset to Team USA’s bullpen in the WBC. Miller made clean work as the closer in the semi-final against Team D.R., recording two strikeouts and one walk in the ninth inning.

Considering he, too, would be pitching for the third time in five days, Miller’s availability was uncertain for the final.

However, manager Mark DeRosa confirmed that Miller would be available to play the final against Team Venezuela at loanDepot Park, Miami, on Tuesday.

The Padres had the final say on Miller pitching in the championship game.

When asked about it earlier on Tuesday, Padres’ manager Craig Stammen reportedly said, “Yeah, potentially. [Team USA] is the one managing the game. [The Padres] have a say in that decision, but ultimately, they’re trying to win a championship. We’re all in that decision together… We’ll see what happens.”

Hence, the latest developments indicate that Team USA ultimately got the nod from Stammen.

Miller logged a 2.63 ERA across 61.2 innings with 104 strikeouts and 0.91 WHIP in 60 games last year.