TAMPA, Fla. – While keeping a close watch on 2X AL All-Star lefty Shane McClanahan, the Rays don’t plan on babying him even though he’s coming off his second Tommy John surgery. In fact the Rays named McClanahan the starting pitcher for Opening Day. Rays skipper Kevin Cash says it wasn’t a hard decision.
“Shane is very motivated,” Cash said. He (McClanahan) likes playing at home. He likes playing in front of family and friends for sure.”
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McClanahan and the Rays open their season at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa March 28 against the Colorado Rockies. The Rays have a talented starting rotation but like McClanahan, Drew Rasmussen and Shane Boz have had to deal with serious arm injuries too. Rays VP of baseball operations Erik Neander says the Rays have figured out the best way to monitor these pitchers, not just McClanahan.
“We’ve learned over time, you can have a rough idea of a responsible range when it comes to workload, but much more important is staying really close to each pitcher,” Neanders said. “Getting that feedback from them and how are they bouncing back after each outing and how are they holding their strength. It’s really just keeping close tabs on it.”
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The Cape Coral HS and USF product sat out all last season recovering from Tommy John surgery. He was throwing in September but Cash said it never really was a goal to have him pitch in a game at the end of the year.
“There was never a thought of him coming back last year,” Cash said. “he did all the work that we asked of him and then some. We were happy with the way his season, his rehab went. He went into the offseason as a healthy pitcher.”
Neander says being talented is one thing but not being able to use that talent is what gets most major league pitchers. The Rays have a formula in place that they believe in, and they do all they can to keep their pitchers healthy.
“At the end of the day we want to be as great as we can be this year, but there is a greater priority to taking care of those guys, making sure we do what’s right by them,” Neander said.
The 27-year-old Mcclanahan has gone 33-16 with a 3.02 ERA and 456 strikeouts in 404 2/3 innings in his first three years in the majors.
“There aren’t many Shane McClanahan’s out there,” Cash said. He’s a special, special pitcher.To have a three-year run as he’s had, you can put it up with anybody in the Rays organization, and this is a pretty rich organization with the history of so many great ones.”
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