Tampa Bay Rays' Shane McClanahan Has Tough Rehab Outing, Lasts Less Than An Inning

Shane McClanahan made a rehab start for the Triple-A Durham Bulls on Friday and didn’t get the results that neither he nor the Tampa Bay Rays wanted to see.

The 28-year-old Rays left-hander was staked to a 3-0 lead before he took the mound against the Knights (Chicago White Sox affiliate) in Charlotte, N.C. – and he promptly gave back all the runs.  

Brooks Baldwin walked to lead off and went to second base on a wild pitch. Corey Julks hit his ninth home run of the season on a fly to left center, scoring the first two runs. After a strikeout, Andre Lipcius belted his 15th home run to tie the game.

The next better flied out before Bryan Ramos struck a triple to center. McClanahan’s night was done, and reliever Cole Wilcox followed with a strikeout to end the inning.

McClanahan’s line for the night: 0.2 innings, three hits, three runs, two home runs, one walk, one strikeout and one wild pitch. On the 90-degree night, he threw 27 pitches, just 12 for strikes.

This was the third rehab start for McClanahan following a scoreless one-inning outing at the Florida Complex League on July 8. Five days later, he started for Durham against the Triple-A Nashville Sounds (Milwaukee Brewers affiliate) and gave up one run on four hits over 1.2 innings. He struck out three, but batters hit .444 against him. He labored through nine batters, throwing 36 pitches (23 for strikes.)

What is most alarming about his Friday start is the reaction from Durham broadcaster Patrick Kinas, who shared via social media that McClanahan’s fastball ranged from 92.2 to 95.9 mph in his start last Sunday. On Friday, the range was 89.7 to 93.2 mph.