Rays: Shane McClanahan injury just got a whole lot worse

Rays ace Shane McClanahan was shut down for the season earlier in August and now it’s worst-case scenario: He’ll undergo Tommy John surgery.

The Tampa Bay Rays should have two of the best young starting pitchers in MLB as part of their rotation with Tyler Glasnow and Shane McClanhan. Since winning the AL Cy Young, though, Glasnow has struggled immensely to stay healthy. And now the 26-year-old McClanahan is sadly in that department.

It’s also now worst-case scenario now with the southpaw’s injury to his left arm.

At the end of last week, the Rays put McClanahan on the 60-day IL, effectively ending his 2023 season as he went to go see more specialists about the injury. It was mentioned then that Tommy John surgery was on the table. Now it’s the course of action.

On Tuesday, Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash informed the media that Shane McClanahan will undergo Tommy John surgery and will be out not just for the remainder of this season but the 2024 season as well as he recovers from the surgery.

Shane McClanahan injury update: Rays ace likely to miss 2024 season, undergoing Tommy John surgery

McClanahan has already undergone Tommy John surgery once in his baseball career, the first procedure occurring in 2016 when he was playing collegiately at South Florida.

Since getting called up to the majors, the lefty has been one of the more dominant forces on the mound in baseball. In 28 starts a year ago, he posted a 2.54 ERA and obscene 0.926 WHIP as he finished sixth in AL Cy Young voting — though you could argue he should’ve been higher than that.

Despite even dealing with a back injury before this current arm ailment that will require another Tommy John procedure, McClanahan had still been great. In 21 starts, he had an 11-2 record with a 3.29 ERA and 1.183 WHIP.

The hope is that this latest surgery and the long road to recovery will get things back on track for the young southpaw. Not only does it hurt the Rays not having him out on the mound every five days, but it’s just bad for baseball to not have one of the most exciting youngsters in the game be a part of the conversation.