Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Shane McClanahan

Dylan Cease Tops Pre-Arbitration Bonus Pool

By | at

One of the big new additions to the collective bargaining agreement signed between the league and the players was the implementation of a $50MM bonus pool set aside for players with less than three years of league service time.

The pool would be handed out to the top 100 eligible players, with MLB’s WAR metric determining which players made the list. Beyond that, further bonuses could be earned for qualified players if they ranked in the top two of Rookie of the Year, top five in MVP or Cy Young, as well as being named in the first or second All-MLB team.

According to ESPN’s Jesse Rogers, White Sox pitcher Dylan Cease topped the class in 2022, taking home a bonus of $2,457,426, in addition to his $750K base salary. Cease threw 184 innings of 2.20 ERA ball for Chicago this year, finishing 2nd in AL Cy Young voting. That finish earned him $1.75MM in addition to the $707,425 he earned for his WAR ranking. 2022 was Cease’s last pre-arbitration season, so he won’t be eligible for the bonus pool after the 2023 season.

The Astros’ Yordan Alvarez was the top hitter on the list, as he took home a $2,381,143 bonus. Alvarez torched pitching to the tune of a .306/.406/.613 line with 37 home runs, finishing third in AL MVP voting. He picked up $881,143 as the top ranked player via the WAR metric, and an additional $1.5MM for his MVP finish. He also won’t be eligible for the pool next season.

Here’s the top ten bonus pool earners (all of these figures are in addition to the player’s base salary):

Per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand, Atlanta’s Spencer Strider was the only other player to earn a bonus greater than $1MM, while four more players (Sean Murphy, Tommy Edman, Will Smith and Ryan Helsley) earned more than $700K, with another eleven players (Steven Kwan, Bo Bichette, Alejandro Kirk, Nestor Cortes, Logan Webb, Shane McClanahan, Cal Raleigh, Daulton Varsho, Nico Hoerner, Triston McKenzie and Tony Gonsolin) earned a bonus greater than $500K.

Each player’s team will pay out the bonuses by December 23, but they will be reimbursed by the Commissioner’s Office.

Justin Verlander Wins American League Cy Young Award

By | at

Justin Verlander has been named the American League’s Cy Young award winner, according to an announcement from the Baseball Writers Association of America. He received all 30 first-place votes.

Like Sandy Alcantara in the National League, Verlander took the award in a clean sweep. The respective dominance of each player has look since taken away much of the intrigue as to who would actually claim the honors, and the unanimous finishes paint a picture of their excellence. Verlander’s elbow blew out during his first start of 2020, eventually leading to a Tommy John surgery that kept him out of action until this year. He returned to the Astros on a $25MM guarantee last winter and, despite being 39 years old, showed no ill effects of such a major procedure.

Verlander returned to make 28 starts, staying healthy until a late-season injured list stint with a calf strain. He tossed 175 innings with an AL-best 1.75 ERA, a mark nearly a half-run lower than that of the next-best finisher. Even with the late-season IL stay, the former MVP placed 16th in the Junior Circuit in innings. He finished seventh among those with 100+ frames in strikeout rate (27.8%) and walk percentage (4.4%) alike.

It’s the third career Cy Young nod for the future Hall of Famer. Verlander becomes the 11th pitcher in big league history to claim the award three times, joining former teammate Max Scherzer and Clayton Kershaw as the only active players to do so. He earned his ninth All-Star nod midseason and led his league in ERA for the second time.

Verlander’s Cy Young adds to an already illustrious resume, while his stellar season positions him for a fascinating trip to free agency. He’s presently on the open market after declining a player option with Houston for the 2023 campaign. There’s essentially no precedent for a pitcher performing this well hitting free agency heading into his age-40 season. Verlander’s sure to secure one of the loftiest per-year salaries in MLB history, and Houston owner Jim Crane said last night he’s looking to top Scherzer’s three-year, $130MM deal with the Mets from last winter.

The other finalists in the American League were Chicago’s Dylan Cease and Toronto’s Alek Manoah. Cease received 14 second-place votes to earn the runner-up finish after placing second with a 2.20 ERA in 184 innings. Manoah finished just behind him with a 2.24 ERA across 196 2/3 frames, securing seven second-place votes in his own right. Cease and Manoah joined Verlander in appearing on all 30 ballots in some capacity.

Shohei Ohtani finished in fourth place and actually secured more second-place votes (nine) than did Manoah after leading the league in strikeout rate. Innings leader Framber Valdez ended up in fifth. Others who earned at least one vote are Shane McClanahan, Shane Bieber, Nestor Cortes Jr., Gerrit Cole and Kevin Gausman.

Full voting breakdown available here.

Rays Activate Shane McClanahan

By | at

Sept. 15: McClanahan has formally been activated from the injured list. Fellow lefty Josh Fleming was optioned to Triple-A Durham to open a roster spot.

Sept. 14: The Rays are going to reinstate left-hander Shane McClanahan from the injured list to start tomorrow’s game against the Blue Jays, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.

McClanahan, 25, had his Cy Young-caliber season interrupted a couple of weeks ago. He was set to start against the Marlins on August 30 but felt something during his pre-game warmup and never actually made it into the game. He was placed on the 15-day injured list the next day with his injury listed as a shoulder impingement. At that time, manager Kevin Cash expressed confidence that an extended absence wouldn’t be necessary, with that assessment proving to be true as McClanahan is returning after a minimum stint.

McClanahan debuted last year with an excellent 3.43 ERA over 123 1/3 innings, though took his game to another level here in 2022, prior to the injury. He’s currently sporting an ERA of 2.20 through 147 1/3 innings this year, along with incredible strikeout, walk and groundball rates of 32.5%, 5.4% and 52.3%, respectively. He and Verlander seemed to be the frontrunners in the AL Cy Young race, though both of them went on the IL around the same time. Verlander seems poised to return this week as well, allowing that competition to continue, though the injuries have allowed others to gain ground.

If McClanahan is able to avoid any lingering effects of the injury and pick up where he left off, it will be a huge boost for the Rays. They face long odds of repeating as AL East champions since they are currently 6.5 games behind the Yankees with just three weeks left on the schedule. However, they are in the midst of a three-team melee for the Wild Card, with the Jays currently on top but only half a game ahead of the Rays and Mariners. The nearest non-playoff team, the Orioles, are five games back, making it likely that the three teams currently in playoff position will hold on. However, the final positioning will also matter, since the top seed will have home field advantage for all three games (if necessary) in the first round of the playoffs.

McClanahan will jump into the rotation next to Corey Kluber, Drew Rasmussen and Jeffrey Springs, with Ryan Yarbrough likely also picking up some bulk work behind an opener. McClanahan would likely be the club’s preferred choice to take the ball in game one of a postseason series, though they will first have to worry about clinching a spot.

Elsewhere on the roster, the news on Ryan Thompson isn’t as good. Topkin relays that the right-hander is done for the season after being diagnosed with a stress reaction in his right elbow. Thompson has already been on the 15-day IL since late August but will likely be transferred to the 60-day IL once the club needs to open a roster spot. He finishes the year with a 3.80 ERA over 42 2/3 innings, along with a 21.5% strikeout rate, 6.1% walk rate and 51.2% ground ball rate.

The Changing Landscape Of The AL Cy Young Race

By | at

Two weeks ago, the Cy Young race in the American League looked like a two-horse race, with both Houston’s Justin Verlander and Tampa Bay’s Shane McClanahan hovering at or below the 2.00 ERA mark and racking up innings atop their teams’ respective rotations. McClanahan has the larger strikeout percentage and subsequently superior marks from fielding-independent metrics that some voters increasingly weigh. Verlander was averaging one extra out recorded per start prior to being lifted early his last time out, and his 16-3 win-loss record might hold some sway with traditionalist voters.

Or, all of that could be rendered moot.

Both Verlander and McClanahan are on the 15-day injured list, and Verlander, who had been improbably leading the Majors in ERA as a 39-year-old in his first season back from Tommy John surgery, sounds as though he’ll miss several weeks rather than just the 15-day minimum. McClanahan, a late scratch from his last start, is already throwing and seems likelier to make a quick return. However, the Rays could very well take a cautious approach and limit his innings after a two-week absence due to a shoulder impingement.

At the very least, the door is now open for further competition in Cy Young voting, ostensibly setting the stage for the closest AL vote we’ve seen since 2019, when Verlander and then-teammate Gerrit Cole finished in the top two positions on the ballot. Last year’s NL Cy Young voting sparked plenty of controversy and debate as well, and as things currently stand, we could get an encore of that scene in the AL this year.

If not Verlander or McClanahan, who are the top names to consider? Let’s dive in.

Dylan Cease, RHP, White Sox

Cease, following a near-no-hitter against the Twins that saw him go 8 2/3 before Luis Arraez cracked a ninth-inning single, may have leapfrogged both Verlander and McClanahan as the odds-on favorite in the American League. He’s sitting on MLB’s third-lowest ERA — sandwiched right between Verlander and McClanahan, no less — and that 2.13 mark is complemented by a 31.4% strikeout rate that ranks as the fourth-highest of any qualified starting pitcher in baseball.

At 5.5 wins above replacement (per Baseball Reference), Cease already leads American League pitchers — even over Verlander and McClanahan. That’d due largely to the fact that Cease is putting up these numbers in front of one of the game’s bottom-10 defenses.

It’s not all roses, as Cease has a 10.4% walk rate that sits dead last among qualified starters. He hasn’t been terribly efficient, either; where both Verlander and McClanahan have averaged comfortably more than six innings per start, Cease has averaged 5.77 innings per appearance this year.

Still, Chicagoans can no doubt see the parallels between Cease’s 2022 showing and the 2016 performance of another Chicago hurler — crosstown righty Jake Arrieta, when he rode a historic summer surge to Cy Young honors. Over his past 15 starts, Cease has tallied 93 innings of 1.45 ERA ball and held opponents to one or zero runs on a dozen occasions. Cease isn’t quite in Arrieta territory (0.86 ERA in his final 147 innings), but he’s not terribly far off, either. If he can sustain anything close to this pace, Cease will finish the season at or near the top of the AL in terms of innings pitched, ERA, total strikeouts and strikeout rate.

Alek Manoah, RHP, Blue Jays

Manoah looked borderline unhittable for the season’s first two months, carrying a 1.67 ERA in that time and allowing just 55 hits and a 0.59 HR/9 mark through June 13 (75 2/3 innings). He had a solid but closer-to-average run for much of the summer but has now yielded just three runs in his past 28 1/3 innings.

At 171 innings of 2.42 ERA ball on the year, the 24-year-old is on the periphery of the race at present. He ranks fourth in American League ERA but trails McClanahan, Cease and especially Verlander in that department. He lacks the gaudy strikeout ratios boasted by both Cease and McClanahan but limits hard contact better than any non-McClanahan pitcher in the AL, evidenced by a 31.3% hard-hit rate. (McClanahan leads qualified AL starters at 30.1%.)

However, Manoah’s 171 are second-most in the American League, and if he continues this hot streak, there’s a chance he could wind up among the league leaders in ERA, innings pitched and other key categories. In terms of wins and losses, everyone’s trailing Verlander’s 16 victories, but Manoah’s 14 are tied with Framber Valdez for second in the league. Speaking of which…

Framber Valdez, LHP, Astros

It’s easy to be overshadowed by the season Verlander is enjoying, but we should all probably be discussing Valdez’s outstanding year more than we are. The 28-year-old southpaw is just one-third of an inning behind Manoah at 170 2/3, and he also sits sixth in ERA (2.64) and ninth in bWAR (3.4).

Valdez has emerged as baseball’s preeminent ground-ball starting pitcher, and it’s not close; he leads all qualified pitchers in ground-ball rate at 66.7%, and Logan Webb’s 57.5% rate is second-best. Even dropping the minimum to 50 innings as a starter, he still leads Alex Cobb (61.9%) and Andre Pallante (61.4%) by a wide margin.

In an age where starters are yanked from the game earlier than ever before, Valdez is a throwback. He’s worked at least six innings in every one of his starts since April 25, completing seven or more innings on 11 occasions and twice going the distance with a complete game. Over his past five starts, Valdez has 35 2/3 innings of 1.77 ERA ball. It’ll be a challenge for him to drop his ERA into the low 2.00s, and he can’t match Cease or McClanahan in terms of strikeouts, but Valdez will likely be the American League innings leader and finish with a mid-2.00s ERA and MLB-leading ground-ball rate.

Shohei Ohtani, RHP, Angels

When Ohtani pitched to a 3.99 ERA through the first six weeks of the season, it looked as if we were in for an (almost) mortal season out of the two-way phenom. He averaged just over five innings per start, and while the strikeouts were still there in droves, he was also unusually homer-prone. A Cy Young pursuit did not appear to be on the horizon.

In 88 2/3 innings since that time? Ohtani has a 1.83 ERA with fewer homers allowed (six) than in his first 47 1/3 innings (seven). He at one point rattled off six consecutive starts with double-digit strikeout totals, and opponents have batted .199/.249/.301 against him during this stretch.

Ohtani’s 33% strikeout rate on the season leads qualified starting pitchers (though would trail Braves phenom Spencer Strider by a good margin if Strider had a few more innings), and while many fans and Ohtani detractors bristle at the notion, it’s hard not to consider that he does all this while also serving as a middle-of-the-order slugger who ranks among the league’s top power threats.

Ultimately, with just 136 innings pitched this season, it’s hard to imagine that Ohtani will actually garner many (if any) first-place Cy Young votes. Yes, he’s sporting a 2.58 ERA, leading the league with a 33% strikeout rate and sitting second among AL starters with 4.7 bWAR. But Ohtani is ultimately going to be up against multiple starters with better bottom-line run prevention numbers and as many as 40 to 50 additional innings pitched. Corbin Burnes won an NL Cy Young last year with just 167 frames, but the top names in the American League this year have had better seasons.

Kevin Gausman, RHP, Blue Jays

Gausman will be the analytic darling in this year’s field. I debated whether to mention him at all for this breakdown, as he’d need a pretty dominant finish to push his way in among the leaders in more traditional categories, but the right-hander is second in the American League at FanGraphs with 5.2 wins above replacement. fWAR is based on fielding-independent pitching rather than actual runs allowed, and Gausman has been quite good this season — 3.12 ERA in 147 innings — despite being one of the game’s least-fortunate pitchers in terms of balls in play. He’s lugging around an MLB-worst .368 BABIP, and the next-highest mark (Jordan Lyles at .323) isn’t even close.

There’s perhaps some temptation to think that Gausman is then yielding far too much hard contact, but that’s not necessarily the case. He’s not managing contact as well as any of the others profiled here, but his 89 mph average exit velocity and 39% hard-hit rate are barely north of the respective 88.6 mph and 38.3% league averages in those regards.

Gausman has the game’s third-best walk rate (3.8%), the tenth-best strikeout rate (27.9%) and is sixth-best in the differential between those two (24.1 K-BB%). He’s averaging just 5 2/3 innings per start, however, and isn’t particularly helping his cause down the stretch (3.99 ERA over his past five outings… again, with a .370 BABIP).

—

A lot can (and will) change between now and season’s end, but since this is all just for debate anyhow, I’ll include a poll to close this out:

Rays Place Shane McClanahan, Brandon Lowe On IL

By | at

4:05pm: Topkin relays word from Cash, who says that McClanahan’s MRI confirmed the impingement diagnosis, describing it as a “best case scenario.” McClanahan will get a cortisone shot and could return after the 15-day minimum absence.

1:00pm: The Rays announced that they have placed starter Shane McClanahan on the 15-day injured due to a left shoulder impingement and infielder Brandon Lowe on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to August 28, with a right triceps contusion. Infielder/outfielder Vidal Brujan and right-hander Calvin Faucher have been recalled in corresponding moves.

McClanahan’s move may be disappointing but it’s hardly surprising. He was scheduled to start yesterday but felt his injury pop-up while throwing his pregame bullpen and never actually threw a pitch in the game. He and manager Kevin Cash both expressed cautious optimism after the game, feeling that an extended absence wouldn’t be necessary. That might still prove to be true, but it appears the team feels he needs at least two weeks before he can contribute again. Whether he will need longer than that still remains to be seen.

Even if he does miss just the minimum amount of time, it will still be a significant loss for Tampa. The southpaw has thrown 147 1/3 innings this year with a 2.20 ERA, 32.5% strikeout rate, 5.4% walk rate and 52.3% ground ball rate. That elite production has put him squarely in the American League Cy Young debate. Though the Rays are known for stockpiling quality depth pieces, any team would suffer from losing that caliber of performance.

As for Lowe, it’s been a frustrating stop-and-start season for him, with this just the latest setback. He first landed on the IL in mid-May due to low back discomfort. He ended up missing about two months due to that ailment, returning in mid-July. He was then hit by a pitch on Friday and was diagnosed with an elbow contusion at the time. He has sat out the club’s past few games, but it seems that the injury is lingering enough that they’ll have him sit out for at least another week. Despite those injuries, he’s still been able to produce for Tampa, hitting .234/.319/.405 in 61 games. That amounts to a wRC+ of 114, a drop from last year’s 137 but still 14% above league average.

With both Lowe and McClanahan out of action, the Rays will have to get by with a weakened rotation and lineup for a while. They are currently in possession of the top Wild Card spot in the American League, though the Mariners are just half a game behind and the Blue Jays separated from the Rays by just a single game. There’s a bit more breathing room until the best non-playoff teams, with the Orioles and Twins three games back. Nevertheless, it figures to be a tight race over the remainder of the schedule, with just five weeks left to go, with the Rays surely hoping to secure not just a playoff spot but also earn home field advantage in the first round by keeping the top Wild Card slot. Hopefully, a little bit of time off for Lowe and McClanahan will allow them to return and contribute down the stretch.

Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times announced the move before the official announcement (Twitter links).

Shane McClanahan Scratched From Start With Shoulder Impingement

By | at

9:18pm: Both Cash and McClanahan expressed some amount of optimism postgame McClanahan wouldn’t need to miss much time (Topkin links). That won’t officially be determined until tomorrow’s imaging results come back, of course.

6:52pm: Rays ace Shane McClanahan was scratched from tonight’s start against the Marlins shortly before game-time. The star southpaw felt discomfort while warming up in the bullpen and was visibly upset (video link provided by Rob Friedman). The club later announced his preliminary diagnosis as a shoulder impingement (h/t to Tricia Whitaker of Bally Sports Florida). He’s set to undergo additional imaging tomorrow, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.

The team will provide more information in the coming days, but it’s obviously a worrisome development. Shoulder issues are a concern for any pitcher, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if McClanahan winds up on the 15-day injured list. Even a brief absence would be a notable blow for a Tampa Bay club that currently occupies the top Wild Card spot in the American League. The Rays are just a half-game up on the Mariners and a game clear of the Blue Jays, with a three-game gap between themselves and the nearest current non-playoff team (the Orioles).

Their place in the standings makes the final five weeks crucial as the Rays look to lock down a fourth straight playoff appearance. One could argue there’s no player more pivotal to those efforts than McClanahan, the American League’s All-Star Game starter and one of the top pitchers in the sport. After a productive rookie season in which he posted a 3.43 ERA through his first 25 big league starts, McClanahan has placed himself among the game’s elite arms this year. He’s worked to a sparkling 2.20 ERA across 24 outings and 147 1/3 frames. The former first-rounder has struck out an elite 32.5% of batters faced and induced ground-balls at a huge 52.3% clip while only walking 5.4% of opponents.

McClanahan has made a strong case for AL Cy Young award consideration, jointing the likes of Justin Verlander (who landed on the IL this afternoon), Dylan Cease and Framber Valdez among the Junior Circuit’s top starters. If healthy, McClanahan would be skipper Kevin Cash’s obvious choice for Game 1 of a possible playoff series.

The Rays have dealt with myriad pitching injuries this season. The bulk of those have come in the bullpen, but they’ve been without Tyler Glasnow all season as he rehabs from last year’s Tommy John procedure and have lost high-end prospect Shane Baz for two extended stretches. It’s possible both Glasnow and Baz could factor into the mix down the stretch, giving Tampa Bay a potentially enviable stockpile of arms if they’re at full strength.

Rays Reinstate Shane McClanahan, Kevin Kiermaier; Designate Joey Krehbiel

By | at

The Rays have reinstated left-hander Shane McClanahan from the 10-day injured list and outfielder Kevin Kiermaier from the COVID-related injury list.  In corresponding moves, right-hander Joey Krehbiel has been designated for assignment while righty Louis Head has once again been optioned to Triple-A Durham.  (Rays broadcaster Neil Solondz was among those to report the news.)

McClanahan is scheduled to start today’s game against the Tigers, and the southpaw will return after a minimal 10-day IL visit due to lower back tightness.  McClanahan has enjoyed a lot of success in his first MLB season, posting a 3.59 ERA/3.62 SIERA and very solid strikeout (27.5%) and walk (7.3%) rates over 22 starts and 110 1/3 innings.  While McClanahan allows a lot of hard contact, it hasn’t translated into much extra damage — if anything, McClanahan’s .339 BABIP indicates he has perhaps been a little unlucky.

While 2021 marked McClanahan’s first taste of regular season action, he actually made his big league debut during last year’s playoffs, delivering an 8.31 ERA over 4 1/3 innings.  The Rays will be hoping for much more from McClanahan in this year’s postseason, as the left-hander projects to be one of the few pitchers on Tampa’s roster that might be used more or less in a traditional starting role, though the Rays are likely to be very flexible in how they deploy their arms.

Kiermaier returns after a one-day precautionary stay on the COVID-IL, and Krehbiel (who was added to the active roster in Kiermaier’s place and demoted to Triple-A after Saturday’s game) will now hit the DFA wire.  Krehbiel’s one official day as a Ray saw him toss a scoreless inning in Saturday’s 4-3 loss to Detroit, and it gave Krehbiel his first appearance in a Major League game since 2018, when he was a member of the Diamondbacks.

Krehbiel now has four total innings over his MLB career, to go along with 492 career innings in the minors while pitching in the Angels, Diamondbacks, and Rays organizations.  Krehbiel has a 4.19 ERA in 43 innings at Triple-A Durham this year, with a 29.5% strikeout rate and 5.1% walk rate.  These numbers could attract some attention on the waiver wire for the 28-year-old Krehbiel, if another team thinks he could be a late bloomer as a relief pitcher.

Rays Place Shane McClanahan, Matt Wisler On 10-Day Injured List

By | at

Tightness in Shane McClanahan’s back has forced the Rays to place the rookie southpaw on the 10-day injured list yesterday. The injury is minor, however, and the Rays plan to have McClanahan back in the rotation as of September 19, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.

McClanahan has made 22 starts for the Rays, which puts him first on the team in that category, while he’s second in innings pitched with 110 1/3 frames. Those innings have largely been quality: McClanahan has posted a 3.59 ERA/3.23 FIP with a strikeout rate roughly four percent better than average and a walk rate roughly one percent better than average.

In the meantime, Louis Head was recalled from Triple-A, and Chris Archer will move back into the rotation to start today’s game against the Tigers. The 31-year-old Head is in his first season with Tampa, a year in which he’s made his Major League debut and posted a 2.93 ERA/3.52 FIP in 27 2/3 innings. Archer has yet to find his groove, though he did soak up five innings during his last start on September 4.

In less promising news, Matt Wisler could be sidelined for the rest of the season due to inflammation in his middle finger. The team is hopeful he sees some improvement after a 10-day shutdown, but the outlook doesn’t look promising. Wisler has been stellar since joining Tampa from the Giants, pitching to a 2.30 ERA/2.17 FIP over 27 1/3 innings.

If Wisler is out for the year, the Rays could replace him with a familiar face: Nick Anderson should join the active roster for the first time this season on Sunday, per Topkin. That the Rays have succeeded as they have without Anderson all year speaks to their pitching depth. Anderson was a crucial piece of their pen last season and could be again if he appears on track heading into the postseason. Anderson has been out all year with a partial ligament tear in his elbow.

Rays To Promote Shane McClanahan

By | at

The Rays are set to promote top pitching prospect Shane McClanahan to start Thursday’s game against the Athletics, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. It’s a nice birthday present for the 2018 No. 31 overall pick, who turns 24 today.

Shane McClanahan | Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

McClanahan technically already made his Major League debut, but it came during last year’s postseason. This will represent the left-hander’s first taste of big league action during the regular season. It’s not yet clear whether this will be a spot start or the beginning of a legitimate audition for a rotation job, but the Rays have thus far received shaky work from lefties Ryan Yarbrough and veteran Rich Hill. Right-hander Chris Archer, meanwhile, is on the injured list with a forearm injury.

McClanahan pitched just seven innings of Rookie ball after being drafted and didn’t pitch at all in 2020 due to the canceled minor league season. He was excellent in his only full minor league season, however, pitching to a 3.36 ERA with a huge 30.6 percent strikeout rate and a solid 8.9 percent walk rate through 120 2/3 innings across three levels (Class-A, Class-A Advanced and Double-A). He’s considered to be one of the game’s better all-around prospects, sitting 75th at MLB.com, 90th at Baseball America and 117th at FanGraphs.

Scouting reports on McClanahan all note that his future may ultimately lie in the bullpen, where he can lean on a triple-digit heater and a wipeout breaking ball to thrive as a two-pitch, late-inning weapon. But he’s also improved his control and added a still-developing changeup to his arsenal, and the Rays understandably will give him a chance to start before dropping into a relief role. MLB.com’s report suggests McClanahan could be a solid No. 3 starter if the changeup and control are there, while FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen believes he’ll eventually be a power reliever at the back of the Tampa Bay ’pen.

Whatever the outcome for McClanahan, most expect that he’ll be an important piece of the Rays’ pitching staff for the foreseeable future. He didn’t accrue any big league service for last year’s postseason play, and he’s now spent enough time at the alternate site that his path to free agency has been pushed back a year. Even if he’s in the Majors for good from this point forth, he’d be controllable all the way through the 2027 season. Due to the timing of his promotion, he’s currently on track to qualify as a Super Two player, which would make him arbitration-eligible four times, beginning in the 2023-24 offseason. Future optional assignments to the minors, of course, could impact both timelines.

Quick Hits: Rays, McClanahan, Astros, Valdez, Pirates,

By | at

The Rays had a tough ninth inning in tonight’s game one against the Yankees. But after Giancarlo Stanton put the game away with a grand slam, the Rays got to make a little history themselves. Shane McClanahan became the first pitcher in MLB history to make his major league debut in the postseason, writes MLB.com’s Juan Toribio (via Twitter). Hitters have accomplished the feat, including this season when Alex Kirilloff made his debut for the Twins. McClanahan was the Rays #5 ranked prospect in Baseball America’s midseason report, and he’d pitched only as high as four games in Double-A prior to his ALDS appearance on Monday night. Rays manager Kevin Cash tasked the former 31st overall pick of the 2018 draft with getting the final out of the ninth inning. The southpaw allowed a high-chop infield single, then surrendered a walk to load the bases for DJ LeMahieu. McClanahan got the AL batting champ to hit one of the end of the bat, which he fielded cleanly to retire the side. While the playoffs rumble on, the rest of the baseball world continues in the background…

  • Framber Valdez will start game two of the ALDS for the Houston Astros on Tuesday with a chance to go up 2-0 in the series. But there was a version of events in which Valdez never would have been employed by the Astros at all. Valdez told reporters Monday that he was actually signed by the Brewers back in 2015, but he was released after a failed physical (Twitter link via Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle). The lefty didn’t elaborate as to what brought about the failed the physical, and given the range of possibilities, it’s not worth speculating. The Astros signed the hard-throwing southpaw on March 18, 2015 as an amateur free agent out of the Dominican Republic, and he made his big-league debut in 2018. This season was his real breakout, however, as he locked down a spot in the Astros’ rotation with a 3.57 ERA/2.85 FIP in 70 2/3 innings before turning in a dominant, five-inning relief showing in Game 1 of the Wild Card round.
  • Pittsburgh Pirates GM Ben Cherington continues to re-make the organization that hired him as General Manager back on November 18, 2019. Lots has changed in the year plus that Cherington has been in charge, but a long rebuild still lies ahead. Given the revenue dips caused by the pandemic, it’s not particularly surprising that today’s news regards a “mix of firings and not renewing contracts,” per Jason Mackey of PG Sports Now (via Twitter). Among those not returning to Pittsburgh are strength coach Jim Malone, head athletic trainer Bryan Housand, and senior advisor Nick Leyva, among others it seems. Given the trends we’re seeing in the industry, it would not be surprising to see these positions either filled internally or not filled at all.
Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

hide arrowsFOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top