Shane McClanahan Ruled Out For Rest Of Postseason

The Rays had been hoping to get erstwhile ace Shane McClanahan back at some point in the playoffs. That’s no longer a possibility. Per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, McClanahan has been ruled out for the remainder of the postseason. He’ll be unable to join Drew Rasmussen, Freddy Peralta, and Nick Martinez in the rotation as Tampa looks toward an ALCS matchup with the Guardians, which starts tomorrow.

The McClanahan news is unfortunate but hardly surprising. The 29-year-old lefty has not pitched since September 3rd. He went on the injured list the next day with an official diagnosis of left forearm tightness. That could have been an ominous sign considering he has two Tommy John surgeries on his resume, though McClanahan felt his injury wasn’t too serious and aimed to return sooner rather than later. He was limited to playing catch through the end of the regular season, and manager Kevin Cash left McClanahan off the roster for the ALDS against the Yankees. In the end, there simply wasn’t enough time to make him game-ready, so instead he’ll watch from the dugout for the rest of the postseason.

The September IL placement was McClanahan’s second of the season, as he also missed a few weeks in August with left mid-back tightness. He previously missed all of the 2024-25 seasons due to his second TJS and a subsequent nerve issue in his left triceps. When healthy this year, McClanahan pitched to a 3.36 ERA in 118 innings over 24 starts. His 21.8% strikeout rate was down compared to 2021-23 but still around league average, while his 8.0% walk rate and 44.2% ground ball rate were both better-than-average marks.

ERA estimators like SIERA (4.15) and xFIP (4.02) weren’t quite as sold on his performance, but McClanahan more or less returned to form and was valued at 2.4 fWAR for his efforts. The Rays control him for one more year in arbitration, where MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him to earn $6.6MM. According to Cash, McClanahan will go into the offseason as “a healthy pitcher” and should be ready in time for Spring Training (link via Topkin).

For now, the Rays will continue with a top three of Rasmussen, Peralta, and Martinez. Rasmussen carried a no-hitter through 7 2/3 innings of ALDS Game 1 and finished with ten strikeouts in eight shutout frames. He is unsurprisingly tabbed for Game 1 of the ALCS, per Topkin. Peralta and Martinez combined for 8 1/3 innings across Games 2 and 3 of the ALDS. The Rays will look for more length out of those two in this series since they don’t have a clear starter lined up for Game 4.

Ian Seymour and Griffin Jax worked as starters for most of the regular season but were used as relievers against the Yankees. Jax missed just under a month of the season with right elbow discomfort. He returned on September 2nd to make five more starts, averaging just over four innings per appearance. He recently threw two innings out of the bullpen in Game 3. Seymour maxed out at 41 pitches in three innings of relief in Game 2. The Rays are no stranger to using bullpen games, so perhaps they’ll go that route in Game 4 of the ALCS with Seymour and Jax in bulk roles.