Rays to reinstate LHP Shane McClanahan Thursday

The Rays are going to reinstate left-hander Shane McClanahan from the injured list to start tomorrow’s game against the Blue Jays, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.

McClanahan, 25, had his Cy Young-caliber season interrupted a couple of weeks ago. He was set to start against the Marlins on August 30 but felt something during his pre-game warmup and never actually made it into the game. He was placed on the 15-day injured list the next day with his injury listed as a shoulder impingement. At that time, manager Kevin Cash expressed confidence that an extended absence wouldn’t be necessary, with that assessment proving to be true as McClanahan is returning after a minimum stint.

McClanahan debuted last year with an excellent 3.43 ERA over 123 1/3 innings, though took his game to another level here in 2022, prior to the injury. He’s currently sporting an ERA of 2.20 through 147 1/3 innings this year, along with incredible strikeout, walk and groundball rates of 32.5%, 5.4% and 52.3%, respectively. He and Verlander seemed to be the frontrunners in the AL Cy Young race, though both of them went on the IL around the same time. Verlander seems poised to return this week as well, allowing that competition to continue, though the injuries have allowed others to gain ground.

If McClanahan is able to avoid any lingering effects of the injury and pick up where he left off, it will be a huge boost for the Rays. They face long odds of repeating as AL East champions since they are currently 6.5 games behind the Yankees with just three weeks left on the schedule. However, they are in the midst of a three-team melee for the Wild Card, with the Jays currently on top but only half a game ahead of the Rays and Mariners. The nearest non-playoff team, the Orioles, are five games back, making it likely that the three teams currently in playoff position will hold on. However, the final positioning will also matter, since the top seed will have home field advantage for all three games (if necessary) in the first round of the playoffs.

McClanahan will jump into the rotation next to Corey Kluber, Drew Rasmussen and Jeffrey Springs, with Ryan Yarbrough likely also picking up some bulk work behind an opener. McClanahan would likely be the club’s preferred choice to take the ball in game one of a postseason series, though they will first have to worry about clinching a spot.

Elsewhere on the roster, the news on Ryan Thompson isn’t as good. Topkin relays that the right-hander is done for the season after being diagnosed with a stress reaction in his right elbow. Thompson has already been on the 15-day IL since late August but will likely be transferred to the 60-day IL once the club needs to open a roster spot. He finishes the year with a 3.80 ERA over 42 2/3 innings, along with a 21.5% strikeout rate, 6.1% walk rate and 51.2% ground ball rate.