Team USA’s McAvoy to miss 4 Nations title game
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Ryan S. Clark
BOSTON — United States defenseman Charlie McAvoy will miss the 4 Nations Face-Off championship game Thursday between the U.S. and Canada.
The Boston Bruins said in a statement Tuesday that McAvoy was admitted to Massachusetts General Hospital on Monday to undergo testing related to an upper-body injury. McAvoy sustained the injury during the 4 Nations Face-Off and is currently being evaluated by Bruins head team physician Dr. Peter Asnis.
Reigning Norris Trophy winner Quinn Hughes will join Team USA ahead of the championship game, Team USA and Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan announced. Per tournament rules, Hughes, who is the older brother of Team USA and New Jersey Devils center Jack Hughes, would only be eligible to play if there is another injury on Team USA’s defense.
Sullivan, who is McAvoy’s father-in-law, said during his news conference that McAvoy’s injury is a “tough” loss, but it would only increase the demand for others in the lineup to step up.
“He’s played extremely well through this tournament,” Sullivan said. “When you lose players of his caliber, they’re not easy to replace. I know from a personal standpoint what this tournament’s meant to him and how much he was looking forward to playing in this. Having said that, we have capable of people. We have a lot of depth at all positions and it’s going to provide opportunities for others to step up.”
Hughes, who has 14 goals and 59 points for the Vancouver Canucks, while averaging more than 25:18 in ice time this season, initially made Team USA’s roster but had to back out because of an oblique injury.
Canada utilized the injury replacement player protocol earlier in the tournament when it called up Dallas Stars defenseman Thomas Harley. Harley was eligible to play for Canada after it lost Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Shea Theodore for the remainder of the tournament in addition to Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar missing the first game against the U.S. due to illness.
“It’s probably good for the game. No doubt about that. Quinn Hughes is a special player,” Canada coach Jon Cooper said. “It was unfortunate he was hurt to begin with.”
Cooper confirmed that the only way an injury replacement player can join the lineup is if a team is at risk of playing short-handed, meaning that the Americans would need one of their six remaining defensemen to be unavailable against Canada for Hughes to play.
Team USA and Golden Knights defenseman Noah Hanifin has known McAvoy for years. They were part of the United States National Team Development Program at the same time as future Team USA teammates such as Jack Eichel, Dylan Larkin, Matthew Tkachuk and Zach Werenski.
“There’s a lot of things [Team USA will miss]. His character, the way he is in the room, his leadership,” Hanifin said. “He’s just such a phenomenal teammate. The physicality he brings to the team and how hard he plays with each shift. That’s contagious for any group he’s a part of and we’re going to miss that a lot on Thursday.”
McAvoy was held out of the United States’ 2-1 loss to Sweden on Monday at TD Garden in Boston. The U.S. had already qualified for the championship game having won in regulation against Finland to open the tournament before beating rival Canada in its second game.
The 27-year-old was one of a few players who missed what was essentially an inconsequential game against Sweden. It’s a group that also included Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews and Florida Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk, who missed the Sweden game out of injury precautionary.
The U.S. played New York Rangers forward Chris Kreider and Ottawa Senators defenseman Jake Sanderson in a game that also witnessed forward Brady Tkachuk get hurt in the first period with a lower-body injury. He returned for a 14-second shift in the first period but would later be ruled out.
Sullivan said he anticipates Matthews being available for the championship game. ESPN’s Emily Kaplan is reporting that the Tkachuk brothers will also play Thursday.
ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski contributed to this report.
Hard-throwing rookie Jacob Misiorowski is a National League All-Star replacement, giving the Milwaukee Brewers right-hander a chance to break Paul Skenes‘ record for the fewest big league appearances before playing in the Midsummer Classic.
Misiorowski was named Friday night to replace Chicago Cubs lefty Matthew Boyd, who will be unavailable for the All-Star Game on Tuesday night in Atlanta because he is scheduled to start Saturday at the New York Yankees.
The 23-year-old Misiorowski has made just five starts for the Brewers, going 4-1 with a 2.81 ERA while averaging 99.3 mph on his fastball, with 89 pitches that have reached 100 mph.
If he pitches at Truist Park, Misiorowski will make it consecutive years for a player to set the mark for fewest big league games before an All-Star showing.
Skenes, the Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander getting ready for his second All-Star appearance, had made 11 starts in the majors when he was chosen as the NL starter for last year’s All-Star Game at Texas. He pitched a scoreless inning.
“I’m speechless,” said a teary-eyed Misiorowski, who said he was given the news a few minutes before the Brewers’ 8-3 victory over Washington. “It’s awesome. It’s very unexpected and it’s an honor.”
Misiorowski is the 30th first-time All-Star and 16th replacement this year. There are now 80 total All-Stars.
“He’s impressive. He’s got some of the best stuff in the game right now, even though he’s a young pitcher,” said Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, who is a starting AL outfielder for his seventh All-Star nod. “He’s going to be a special pitcher in this game for a long time so I think he deserved it and it’s going be pretty cool for him and his family.”
Carlos Rodón, Carlos Estévez and Casey Mize were named replacement pitchers on the AL roster.
The New York Yankees‘ Rodón, an All-Star for the third time in five seasons, will replace teammate Max Fried for Tuesday’s game in Atlanta. Fried will be unavailable because he is scheduled to start Saturday against the Chicago Cubs.
In his final start before the All-Star game, Rodón allowed four hits and struck out eight in eight innings in an 11-0 victory over the Cubs.
“This one’s a little special for me,” said Rodón, an All-Star in 2021 and ’22 who was 3-8 in his first season with the Yankees two years ago before rebounding. “I wasn’t good when I first got here, and I just wanted to prove that I wasn’t to going to give up and just put my best foot forward and try to win as many games as I can.”
The Kansas City Royals‘ Estévez replaces Texas’ Jacob deGrom, who is scheduled to start at Houston on Saturday night. Estévez was a 2023 All-Star when he was with the Los Angeles Angels.
Mize takes the spot held by Boston‘s Garrett Crochet, who is scheduled to start Saturday against Tampa Bay. Mize gives the Tigers six All-Stars, most of any team and tied for the franchise record.
Royals third baseman Maikel Garcia will replace Tampa Bay‘s Brandon Lowe, who went on the injured list with left oblique tightness. The additions of Estévez and Garcia give the Royals four All-Stars, matching their 2024 total.
The Seattle Mariners announced center fielder Julio Rodríguez will not participate, and he was replaced by teammate Randy Arozarena. Rodríguez had been voted onto the AL roster via the players’ ballot. The Mariners, who have five All-Stars, said Rodríguez will use the break to “recuperate, rest and prepare for the second half.”
Arozarena is an All-Star for the second time. He started in left field for the AL two years ago, when he was with Tampa Bay. Arozarena was the runner-up to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the 2023 Home Run Derby.
Rays right-hander Drew Rasmussen, a first-time All-Star, is replacing Angels left-hander Yusei Kikuchi, who is scheduled to start Saturday night at Arizona. Rasmussen is 7-5 with a 2.82 ERA in 18 starts.
San Diego added a third NL All-Star reliever in lefty Adrián Morejón, who replaces Philadelphia starter Zack Wheeler. The Phillies’ right-hander is scheduled to start at San Diego on Saturday night. Morejón entered the weekend with a 1.71 ERA in 45 appearances.
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Jesse Rogers
CHICAGO — Former White Sox lefty Mark Buehrle was forever immortalized inside Rate Field as the team unveiled a statue in his honor Friday.
Buehrle, 46, played 16 years in the majors, including the first 12 with the White Sox, who he helped win a World Series in 2005. He won 214 games and pitched 200 innings or more in 14 consecutive seasons from 2001 to 2014.
“I can’t put it into words,” Buehrle said after the unveiling. “You don’t play the game for any of this. You never think of number retirements or statues. I can’t even wrap my head around it. It doesn’t make sense.”
The statue is an action shot of him throwing a pitch.
His wife and kids were in attendance and helped pull off the cover to unveil the statue while his 2005 teammates looked on. The event kicked off a weekend reunion for the World Series team which went 11-1 in the postseason, beating the Houston Astros in four games to take home the title.
Buehrle was a five-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove winner, finishing fifth in Cy Young voting in 2005.
“Well-deserved,” former right fielder Jermaine Dye said of the statue. “Great teammate. Great leader. Definitely someone you want on a ballclub to lead a pitching staff.”
The White Sox rotation — led by Buehrle — threw four complete games in the ALCS against the Boston Red Sox in 2005, missing a fifth complete game by two-thirds of an inning. It’s an unheard of accomplishment in today’s game since starters infrequently go the distance.
Besides being an innings-eater on the mound, Buehrle was a fast worker — a favorite trait of his catcher, A.J Pierzynski. And he wasn’t someone who threw a lot of different pitches. He caught it and threw it without much input from behind the plate.
“He was fast,” Pierzynski said. “We had Jermaine Dye calling pitches from right field some games. We did come crazy things you wouldn’t recommend to people to do nowadays.”
Buehrle is a notoriously low-key guy who hates the spotlight but even he was moved by the team’s decision to honor him with a statue, which joins former slugger Harold Baines in the right-field concourse.
“I joked with him when I saw him,” Dye said. “I told him ‘Man it takes you getting a statue to get you out of the house.'”
Buehrle added: “I was literally nervous as can be today. This is not my comfort zone but by no means am I taking it lightly. This is incredible.”
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