Tampa Bay Rays Manager Provides Injury Update on Shane McClanahan

2:30p.m. ET: In his final start before Opening Day, Tampa Bay Rays' ace Shane McClanahan left Saturday's contest against the Boston Red Sox with a troubling arm injury.

Per Gabrielle Starr of the Boston Herald on social media:

#Rays Shane McClanahan appeared to hurt his arm throwing a pitch to Kristian Campbell in the top of the 3rd. He immediately waved to the bench and removed himself from the game.

Depending on the severity of the injury, that could be devastating for the Rays, who are counting on McClanahan to be the ace of the staff once again. He missed all of last season with Tommy John surgery.

A three-year veteran, McClanahan is already a two-time All-Star. Despite getting injured at the end of 2023, he still finished sixth in the American League Cy Young voting. Lifetime, McClanahan is 33-16 with a 3.02 ERA. He strikes out more than 10 batters (10.1) per nine innings for his career.

The Rays finished 80-82 last season, missing the playoffs by finishing fourth in the American League East. With McClanahan back in the fold, they have been expected to contend for a playoff berth this season. In addition to getting him back, they've also added Ha-seong Kim in free agency.

The Rays will provide an update after the game, assuredly, and we will have the information once it's relayed. In addition to McClanahan, the Rays' rotation has been expected to include Taj Bradley, Shane Baz, Zack Littell and Drew Rasmussen. Joe Boyle and Ryan Pepiot are also candidates.