Rays Pitcher in Midseason Form Dominating at Spring Training

There are some questions for the Rays as spring training winds down, but one thing is clear: their pitching staff will be a strength.

The organization has a stellar reputation for developing pitchers. There are some exciting arms set to be part of the Major League staff, but young prospects are providing a lot of hope and optimism for the future.

One of the players whom everyone has been keeping an eye on is starting pitcher Shane McClanahan. He has not pitched in the Big Leagues since 2003 because of injuries, but is healthy in camp this year and rounding back into shape.

Not only is he rounding into shape, but he also looks incredible on the mound. He looks to be in midseason form after a dominant outing in his last start against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Shane McClanahan dominated Pirates

McClanahan breezed through 3.2 innings of work, not allowing a single hit while striking out seven and walking two. He threw 54 pitches, continuing to ramp up his workload ahead of the regular season, generating 10 whiffs in the process.

Arguably, the most encouraging part of his start was the velocity he was showing on his fastball. As shared on X, he averaged 94.8 mph and was touching 97.5 with some of the offerings, an encouraging development at this point in spring training.

It was great to see him perform as well as he did against the Pirates. Statistics aren’t too big of a deal in spring training, especially when someone is returning from such a long layoff as McClanahan.