Joe Ryan may still get his wish to pitch in the World Baseball Classic after all, but the Twins starter will likely need his Team USA teammates to make it to the championship game first to make that a reality.

Ryan was unable to join Team USA for pool play due to lower back inflammation that popped up before his first scheduled spring training start. After a short break to let his back recover, the Twins started building Ryan back up again, and he made his first start of the spring on Tuesday, throwing 48 pitches across three scoreless innings against Tampa Bay.

Should Team USA get past Canada in the quarterfinal on Friday night in a game that will take place at 7 p.m. at Daikin Park in Houston, Ryan would then be added to the roster in place of Clayton Kershaw, manager Mark DeRosa told reporters on Thursday.

And how might he slot in?

“Joe will be ready for the 17th if and when we make it to the championship game,” DeRosa said. “So it will be a little Nolan McLean/Joe Ryan situation there, and we’ll figure that out.”

Of course, there’s no guarantee that Team USA makes it to the championship game. An upset loss to Italy earlier this week put the Americans in a precarious situation in which they no longer controlled their own fate. An Italy win on Wednesday night over Mexico subsequently punched Team USA’s ticket to the quarterfinal.

If Ryan does end up joining Team USA, he will reunite with teammate Byron Buxton, who started and played center field in two of four games during pool play. Buxton is hitless in the tournament thus far but has one RBI as a result of a bases-loaded hit by pitch and has scored one run and swiped a bag.

U.S. to play Canada, thanks to Italy

The Americans got the help they needed from Italy and could start to relax by the middle innings as Italy routed Mexico 9-1 on Wednesday night, giving the Azzurri the top spot in Group B and assuring the Americans advancement to the quarterfinals as the second-place team.

After Vinnie Pasquantino had the WBC’s first three-homer game to lead the Italians to victory, the Kansas City Royals’ player had a message for the Americans.

“You’re welcome, U.S.A.,” he said. “We were thinking of you guys over at your hotel. We were thinking of you guys. So I’m glad you could join us in the party.”

Italy beat the U.S. 8-6 a night earlier, turning the Americans into spectators as they hoped to avoid elimination. The Italians — fielding a roster stacked with Americans of Italian heritage — finished 4-0 while the U.S. went 3-1.

Mexico (2-2), which lost to the U.S., was eliminated from the WBC and from qualifying for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

The Americans will stay in Houston to meet Canada, which advanced past first round for the first time, on Friday night. The game is scheduled for 7 p.m. and will be televised on FOX. Italy will play Puerto Rico in the other quarterfinal at Daikin Park on Saturday.

The U.S., with an All-Star-filled roster, also beat Britain and Brazil in group play.

The Associated Press contributed to this report