News on Shane McClanahan is about as good as Rays could have hoped for

TAMPA — Their ace is heading to the injured list, and the Rays could not be happier.

After seeing Shane McClanahan react in obvious pain after throwing a pitch Saturday in Port Charlotte, the Rays knew their two-time All-Star would not start opening day as expected, but the news from doctors on Sunday was encouraging.

McClanahan, 27, has nerve irritation in the triceps area of his left arm. That means no muscle tears or pulls, and no obvious connection to the Tommy John surgery that kept McClanahan out the entire 2024 season.

“Really good news on Mac,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “Basically, it was more nerve-related. Calm the nerve down and then see how he progresses, get a ball back in his hand. Probably the best news we could have heard.”

McClanahan will miss at least a handful of starts, but Cash said it’s too soon to predict how long he will be out.

“We haven’t put a time frame on it,” Cash said. “I’m going to talk to Mac, see how he feels. We’ve got to just let it calm down. Obviously, he aggravated it enough to come out and need some extra treatment. But I don’t think we have a time frame quite yet. We’ll sit down with him (Monday).”

McClanahan has had two Tommy John surgeries in his career, including the latest in August 2023. Cash said the Rays generally are cautious with all of their pitchers, so he doesn’t anticipate needing to slow down McClanahan’s recovery due to the previous elbow injuries.

“We’ve just got to listen to Mac,” he said. “They’re all individuals, how they get there and how they feel. But I know Mac is going to be highly motivated to receive the good news and then get back out on the mound and help us.”

Even before getting the update on McClanahan, the Rays had adjusted their pitching rotation. Ryan Pepiot will replace McClanahan as the opening day starter and will be followed by Taj Bradley, Drew Rasmussen, Shane Baz and Zack Littell.

“We have a bunch of guys that are definitely willing and able to take the ball every fifth, sixth day and go out and give our team the best chance to win,” Pepiot said. “Hopefully, we can get Shane back as fast as possible, but with the rest of the guys that we still have we have all the confidence in the world in any of those guys. Whenever they take the ball, we know we have a chance to win the ballgame.”

The Rays started spring with six legitimate contenders for the five-man starting rotation, and there was speculation they might deal one of them to boost the offense. Instead, baseball operations president Erik Neander chose to keep the rotation stocked, and the Rays were preparing for various scenarios for how to begin a season with six starters.

“You don’t replace Shane McClanahan. There’s only one of him,” Cash said. “But saying that, this is where Erik and his group do such a good job of understanding that you’re going to need so many crucial contributors throughout the course of the season, and fortunately for us we feel like we have that. But every injury takes a toll. Every injury cuts into your depth a little bit more. So, we need to do everything we can to continue to prevent those.”

There was obvious concern about the injury’s impact on the season, but Rays players said it was even more difficult to see McClanahan walk off the mound Saturday considering the amount of work he put in during the 18 months following elbow surgery.

“Coming back from injuries and doing all that rehab process, you almost feel more for the person than the player,” centerfielder Jonny DeLuca said before the announcement of Sunday’s diagnosis. “With how much work he’s put in, it just sucks. And then, also, as a team, he’s our guy, he’s our ace. Hopefully, he’s going to bounce back pretty quick, because we want him on the mound every single time we can get.”

The Rays had already started Sunday’s eventual 3-3 tie with the Yankees when the McClanahan news was delivered to Cash in the dugout by head athletic trainer Joe Benge.

“Coming in (Sunday), we’re excited about opening day, we’re excited about the club, but he’s a big part of that and there was some uncertainty,” Cash said. “I’m thrilled. Joe put a smile on everybody’s face (Sunday).”

John Romano can be reached at jromano@tampabay.com. Follow @romano_tbtimes.

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