Rays’ Shane McClanahan ‘highly unlikely’ to pitch again this season, Kevin Cash

Tampa Bay Rays starter Shane McClanahan is “highly unlikely” to pitch again this season after the lefty saw a doctor for forearm tightness, manager Kevin Cash said Tuesday. Here’s what you need to know:

• McClanahan will see another specialist but “everything is on the table” for him, including Tommy John surgery, flexor surgery and loose body removal, per MLB.com.
• “Surgery is certainly an option, but I don’t want to get too far ahead,” Cash added. “I think in fairness to Mac and to us, he’s going to be down for a little while.”
• The 26-year-old, whose injury is the latest in a recent string of them for Tampa Bay pitchers, was placed on the 15-day injured list last week after being pulled from his last start against the New York Yankees due to the forearm issue.

The Athletic’s instant analysis:

What this means for McClahanan

What a blow for Shane McClanahan. He’s seven years out of that Tommy John surgery he had in college, and he said his rehab from that just clicked a couple years in — so hopefully he’s not going to need full reconstructive surgery and a re-start of that lengthy process.

Even after everything clicked and he became one of the top five starting pitchers in the league the last two years, he wasn’t known for bulk, topping out at 166 1/3 innings pitched in 2022. He just throws a lot of high-stress pitches, as the hardest-throwing qualified lefty starter in the bigs, and that’s led to various arm and shoulder issues for him. — Sarris

What about for Tampa Bay?

What a blow for the Rays. Once easily the top team in the league, they’ve regressed since a hot start and are even seeing their grip on the American League East being loosened by the Baltimore Orioles — Tampa Bay is now three games back in the division and will need to find top-end pitching elsewhere. Tyler Glasnow is having back troubles, in a related matter, and hopes to rejoin the rotation over the weekend. Good thing the Rays went and traded for Aaron Civale at the deadline, but with his injury woes and the Rays’ luck so far, who knows. — Sarris

Is it just bad luck?

Jeffrey Springs, Drew Rasmussen and now McClanahan are probably done for the season, and Tampa Bay continually lead the league in pitcher days on the injured list. They do factor in the top 10 in the league when it comes to pitches over 97 mph, pitches over 2700 rpm and breaking balls over 88 mph, so chasing stuff may be having injury ramifications. But it’s also true that the Rays are comfortable with this risk when they acquire these players.

McClanahan had TJ in college. Rasmussen had two. Springs had never topped 115 innings when they got him. Civale’s high is 135. They knew this when they got them.

It’s a strange mix of emotions surrounding this injury. Sadness, of course, for the player and the team. And … resignation (maybe?) when it comes to how a confluence of league- and team-wide strategy and tactics could have led to this moment. —…