Rays starter Shane McClanahan departed today’s outing in the fourth inning after a visit from the trainer. The club later announced he’d been dealing with mid-back tightness.
It’s unclear whether the Rays anticipate McClanahan missing time. Postgame, he conceded he was “frustrated” to have to leave the game early but expressed hope it wouldn’t be a serious issue (video provided by Bally Sports Sun). Manager Kevin Cash told reporters the southpaw had experienced some minor back discomfort before his previous start as well (relayed by Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times).
McClanahan is the only Tampa Bay starter to have taken all 16 turns through the rotation. Last season’s sixth-place Cy Young finisher has continued to excel. He owns a 2.23 ERA across 93 innings. His 26.7% strikeout rate is down a bit relative to last year’s 30.3% clip, but it’s still well above league average. The Rays are already without Jeffrey Springs, Drew Rasmussen and Josh Fleming and had to navigate the first couple months sans Tyler Glasnow. McClanahan, Glasnow, rookie Taj Bradley and offseason pickup Zach Eflin make for an excellent top four, but the Springs and Rasmussen injuries have put some pressure on the depth arms.
Corner outfielder Luke Raley also finished today’s game with some health concern. He was hit on the right hand by a José Cuas pitch in the first inning. While Raley played the remainder of the contest, Topkin tweets that his hand remained sore postgame. Initial x-rays came back negative but he’ll head for further imaging tonight. Raley has somewhat quietly been one of the game’s best hitters this year, mashing at a .276/.354/.582 clip over 193 plate appearances.
Whether he’ll require a stint on the injured list is to be determined. There’d seem a decent chance he’ll at least be out of tomorrow night’s lineup. If that’s the case, he’d be joined in sitting out the contest by Wander Franco. Tampa Bay penciled in Taylor Walls at shortstop tonight, and Cash announced pregame that Franco would be on the bench for Friday’s contest as well.
It’s not an injury concern in his case. It’s instead a disciplinary decision. Cash told reporters the organization was benching Franco for at least two games after taking issue with some of his clubhouse behavior. As Topkin writes, it isn’t believed to be related to one specific incident but rather a culmination of a few events throughout the season. Topkin notes that Franco has been involved in some verbal spats with teammates over the course of the year and has had some instances of slamming equipment in the dugout after making outs.
To be clear, there’s nothing to suggest the Rays’ overall relationship with Franco has been affected. Cash was quick to call the 22-year-old star “a really good kid, really good person” while conceding that the infielder “is learning and dealing with the challenges of being a major league player and some of the frustrations that come with it.” Both Cash and president of baseball operations Erik Neander expressed support for Franco overall but indicated they felt it appropriate to sit him down for a few days to reinforce the need to be a good teammate.
Franco is arguably the face of the franchise and already one of the sport’s brightest young stars. He’s off to a .287/.349/.455 start to the season and has elite defensive marks. Recipient of the largest extension in franchise history, he’s under contract through the 2032 campaign and remains as important to the organization as any player on the roster.
I think there’s gonna be some clubhouse issues with this team.. Fairbanks after Diaz’s misplay tonight, you could see him say “f’n stupid.” You know the cameras are on you, don’t do something that is going to rock the boat bc of a camera catching it.
If you don’t think this happens on every team then you’re crazy. And you don’t even know he was talking about diaz he could’ve been calling himself that for giving up a stupid hit.
Hoping it is low concern. Looking forward to McClanhan’s next couple of starts on the road in Arizona and Seattle.
Take a moment of pity for the nervous baseball card investors that bought high on Wander cards. He was priced unsustainable and his cards are taking a beating with the market correction already. This won’t help.
Pity is the only emotion anybody should have for cardboard collectors over the age of 16. Confusing investment and being a mark is one thing, but these are actual human beings with actual lives. Should probably keep the focus on them and not divert to grown losers and their emotional downhill roller coaster that will soon reach the end of the ride.
You sound like an s$$. Tens of millions of people have collectibles of some sort. I have (like a lot of guys) sports cards. I’ve seen doll collections, coil collections, a stunning Hummel collection, matchbook collections. I have a friend that collected antique maps, before we were the US.
Some of these are beautiful works of art. They brighten up the room and inspire conversation.
Bet you’re fun at parties.
Even though you can hide behind your keyboard, doesn’t mean you should lob verbal grenades from behind it.
The Rays are one of the 6 best organizations in MLB.
They do what’s right for their team in the long run. They don’t compromise, look the other way, or make excuses as most franchises do. A prime reason they keep winning year after year.
Yes.
They may have to take a look at what they’re doing to pitchers though. They hurt just about all of them with their pitching style. Hopefully mcclanahan is ok because he’s fun to watch.
When and what exactly?
I applaud the Rays for trying to nip Franco’s bad behavior in the bud before it becomes too much of a distraction. A lot of teams seem to let stars get away with almost anything.
It’s great to send a young player the message that the team comes before individuals. Of course it helps that the Rays have their usual ridiculous depth, so they can afford to sit Wander for a bit to get their point across.
In a sense the Rays are forced to try and get ahead of Franco’s behavior after hitching their future to him with that contract running through 2033. His stats have been pretty consistent through the first three seasons but if those numbers dip it would be interesting to see how Tampa plays it. They’re not afraid of trading away talent, but it could get tricky with a deal running into the next decade.
I would trade the Cardinals entire team for Shane McClanahan. I just don’t think the Rays would go for it.