The Rays were dealt a frustrating blow this evening, as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports that southpaw Shane McClanahan has paused his throwing progression and is seeking additional medical opinions on the nerve issue in his triceps that’s kept him sidelined since Spring Training. The decision came after McClanahan was “not feeling 100%” during his first full-distance bullpen session. Manager Kevin Cash described the situation to reporters (including Topkin) as McClanahan being “kind of in shutdown mode.”
It’s tough news for Rays fans, as the talented left-hander was eyeing a return in late July as recently as last week. McClanahan hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2023 due to Tommy John surgery and the aforementioned nerve issue, but emerged as one of baseball’s most talented young starters during his three seasons in the league from 2021-23. He sports a career 3.02 ERA and 3.36 FIP across 404 2/3 innings of work. His resume also includes a fantastic 28.0% career strikeout rate and a 46.8% ground ball rate for his career.
Not being able to lean on McClanahan’s incredible talent at the top of the rotation last year is a major part of why the Rays stumbled to an 80-82 record and missed the postseason. Things are going better this year, as Tampa’s 36-31 record puts them in the second of the AL’s three Wild Card spots, just five games back of the Yankees for the AL East lead. The contributions of young bats like Jonathan Aranda and Junior Caminero have been key to the club’s success this year, and while Drew Rasmussen has done an admirable job as the team’s ace this year the Rays were surely counting on the return of McClanahan to help lift them down the stretch.
Outside of Rasmussen and a decent mid-rotation showing from Ryan Pepiot, the Rays haven’t gotten the best results from their rotation this year. Taj Bradley and Shane Baz have both been below-average pitchers this season, while Zack Littell has posted average results with shaky peripherals. A perennially changing but always talented cast of characters led by Pete Fairbanks in the bullpen has been excellent as always, but a strong bullpen can only do so much to prop up a rotation that lands in the bottom ten in baseball with a lackluster 4.35 FIP. It’s at least possible that McClanahan’s search for additional opinions will confirm that he’s ready to resume ramping up and this will be only a minor setback in his rehab, but for a pitcher who was already not guaranteed to return before August there’s real reason for concern that he could run out of time to get back before the end of the regular season in late September.
Should the Rays manage to keep the good times rolling and enter July as trade deadline buyers, the news regarding McClanahan seems likely to further amplify their need for rotation help. Tampa offloaded veteran rotation pieces Aaron Civale and Zach Eflin at last summer’s deadline, but adding a similar mid-rotation veteran to this pitching staff would go a long way to bolstering the rotation. Eflin himself could be on the market once again depending on how the Orioles decide to approach trade season in the midst of a nightmare year, and other pieces who could at least theoretically move this summer include players like Andrew Heaney, Tyler Mahle, Walker Buehler, and Zac Gallen although many of those players play for teams on the fence between buying and selling this summer.