Who's available -- and who's not -- out of Team USA 'pen in title game?

MIAMI -- The delicate balance between going for the gold and getting ready for the regular season impacted Team USA’s pitching plans for the World Baseball Classic finals.

And it will be fascinating to watch how manager Mark DeRosa and the Americans try to piece together the 27 outs that separate them from the title they came here to claim.

Here’s what we know: Nolan McLean will be starting for Team USA on Tuesday night at loanDepot park against either Italy or Venezuela, who will square off in the semifinals Monday night at 8 ET on FS1.

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Here’s what we don’t know: What comes after that?

The rookie McLean, all of eight starts into his MLB career but in possession of some of the sickest stuff in the sport, is enticing, electric and enthused about getting the ball in the biggest game of his baseball life.

This is also McLean’s chance to redeem himself after his start against Italy in pool play went sideways, with home runs allowed to Kyle Teel and Sam Antonacci in the second inning of Team USA’s eventual 8-6 upset loss -- the Americans’ only loss in this tournament.

“Obviously I got clipped there a couple times with the homer,” McLean said Monday. “But overall, I felt really good. As a competitor, if you work your whole life at something, you want to be put in these spots. So it’s just kind of a dream come true to be able to get the ball in such a big moment, and it’s something I want to do.”

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But while the WBC rules permit McLean to go up to 95 pitches in the finals, the more practical, in-house “rules” -- formed in conjunction with the Mets’ wishes for their burgeoning young ace -- put him more in the 65- to 70-pitch range.

And of course, in elimination games such as this one, it’s not uncommon for teams to have their starters on a short leash.

That’s why there had been talk of adding Twins starter Joe Ryan for this game, in a piggyback plan. But the Twins’ preference was to have Ryan serve as a starter, rather than come on in relief, in order to stay on his usual routine given the lower back inflammation he has experienced this spring.

Because Team USA was unable to make such a guarantee prior to the semifinals, the plans changed. Blue Jays reliever Jeff Hoffman replaced Clayton Kershaw on the active roster, in the spot that had previously been earmarked for Ryan.

So that gives the U.S. a deeper relief corps, and Monday’s off-day was a major scheduling advantage for the Americans. Really, this whole tournament set up well for them, with only one pair of games on back-to-back days for Team USA after March 6-7.

Still, those practical, regular-season concerns are not to be dismissed. DeRosa has found a winning late-inning, high-leverage formula with David Bednar in the seventh, Garrett Whitlock in the eighth and Mason Miller in the ninth. Those three combined to seal the triumph over Canada in the quarterfinals and stifled that deep Dominican Republic lineup in the semifinals.

Whether they will all be eligible to pitch Tuesday night was something Team USA was unable to confirm a day prior, though there was a sense that Miller’s availability was a particularly iffy proposition.

Entering Tuesday, Bednar has pitched four innings across four appearances in the past 11 days, with 79 total pitches.

Whitlock has pitched three innings across three appearances in the past nine days, throwing 43 pitches.

Miller has pitched two innings across two appearances in the last five days, throwing 40 pitches.

Using any of those three would require them to be on the mound for the third time in five days. Miller was specifically asked about his availability after tossing 22 pitches against the D.R. on Sunday night.

“I would do everything in my power to pitch,” he said.

To be clear, there is nothing in the Classic’s rest and pitch limit protocols preventing the U.S. from using any of its relievers in the finals. But the players' big league teams do have their say, as was the case with Ryan.

In a perfect scenario, perhaps the U.S. could have gone to McLean for three, Ryan for three and then used the Bednar-Whitlock-Miller tandem to finish the job.

As it stands, it seems reasonable to assume others in the ‘pen are going to have to rise to the occasion.

Tyler Rogers was added to the roster prior to the Canada game and brought the club a different, extreme submarine look out of the ‘pen. He made his first appearance in a huge spot against the D.R. by getting Juan Soto to ground into an inning-ending double play in the fifth.

The recently rostered likes of Will Vest, Tim Hill and Hoffman have yet to pitch in this tournament but all could factor prominently into the finals. Hoffman is the most interesting of that group, given that his last appearance in a game of consequence came when he surrendered the game-tying home run to Miguel Rojas in the ninth inning of Game 7 of the World Series. He could have a shot at a measure of redemption in this finals environment.

As is the nature of this tournament and when it takes place, DeRosa and pitching coach Andy Pettitte have had to navigate not only the calls to the bullpen but the calls from the MLB teams these pitchers belong to. It creates some headaches and some sub-optimal setups.

Ultimately, though, the off-day and the deep pool of big league-caliber arms does give the U.S. a leg -- or arm -- up on its finals opponent.