Red Sox's Mickey Gasper Enters WBC Spotlight After Kyle Teel Injury

The World Baseball Classic is becoming the height of intrigue for Boston Red Sox fans, as current and former Boston players are making an impact all over the tournament.

On Tuesday night, Roman Anthony hit an RBI single for Team USA while Greg Weissert struck out Aaron Judge to seal the win for Team Italy. But the biggest star of all was Italy catcher Kyle Teel, a former Red Sox first-round pick who was one of the centerpieces of the Garrett Crochet trade with the Chicago White Sox.

However, after his home run in the second inning made the score 1-0, Teel injured his hamstring running to second base on a double down the line in the top of the sixth. He appears to be out for the rest of the tournament, which is a blow to the Italian squad and possibly to the White Sox as well.

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Mickey Gasper to the rescue for Team Italy?

Italy's backup catcher, J.J. D'Orazio, has never appeared in a major league game. And even if he proves to be capable, Teel still needs to be replaced on the active roster. So it appears that another name Red Sox fans know will enter the fray.

According to a report from Rob Bradford of WEEI, Red Sox catcher/infielder Mickey Gasper traveled to Houston on Wednesday as a "possible replacement" for Teel on the active roster.

As of 2 p.m. ET, Gasper had not officially been added to the roster. Italy's hugely important game against Team Mexico was scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. ET, a.k.a. 6 p.m. local time in Houston.

Gasper returned to the Red Sox on Feb. 4 as a waiver claim from the Washington Nationals. He made his major league debut for the club in 2024, but went 0-for-18 at the plate before he was traded to the Minnesota Twins in the offseason for pitcher Jovani Morán.

Still, Gasper has as much big-league experience as Team Italy could have hoped to find on short notice. He has also been red-hot during spring training, with an 8-for-22 batting line that includes two home runs in Boston's major league action.

While we don't yet know if and when Gasper will play in the WBC, he's now another name to watch. If he plays on Wednesday, he could have an impact on whether Anthony and Team USA advance to the quarterfinals, which requires either an Italy win or Mexico to score at least five runs.