Tampa Bay Rays Holding Breath After Hearing Dreadful Injury Phrase with Regards to Ace Pitcher

The Tampa Bay Rays say that ace pitcher Shane McClanahan is experiencing the dreaded "forearm tightness."

The Tampa Bay Rays lost to the New York Yankees 7-2 on Wednesday night, but the hope is that there's not a much bigger loss on the horizon.

The following update on ace pitcher Shane McClanahan comes from the Rotowire fantasy baseball portal:

McClanahan experienced tightness in his left forearm during Wednesday's game against the Yankees, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

ANALYSIS
The issue arose while McClanahan was warming up ahead of the fourth inning. He'll head back to Tampa on Thursday to be checked out by the team doctor, at which point more details regarding the severity of his injury will be available...

Now, we do not know the severity of the injury, but any time you hear "forearm tightness," your antennas go up. McClanahan is one of the top pitchers in the game and any absence would be a very hard one to overcome for the Rays.

Tampa is already without Drew Rasmussen and Jeffrey Springs for the season, both of whom have elbow injuries. "Forearm tightness" can be a precursor to an elbow injury, so the hope is that McClanahan can avoid the same fate.

The lefty struggled again on Wednesday, lasting just four innings. He allowed five earned runs on five hits. He walked none and struck out two. An All-Star this season, he's now 11-2 with a 3.29 ERA.

The Rays are now 66-45 on the season and 1.5 games behind the Baltimore Orioles in the American League East.

Tampa Bay currently owns the top spot in the wild card chase.

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