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Tampa Bay Rays Ace Says He Has No Restrictions as He Comes Back From Tommy John Surgery

After missing the entire 2024 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery, Rays ace Shane McClanahan says he is good to go for a normal spring training.

Brady Farkas

Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Shane McClanahan (18) warms up in the bullpen before a game against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park in 2023.
Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Shane McClanahan (18) warms up in the bullpen before a game against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park in 2023. / Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images
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Speaking with the media on Wednesday, Tampa Bay Rays ace Shane McClanahan says that he is healthy and faces no restrictions as he returns from Tommy John surgery that cost him the entire 2024 season.

Per Rays reporter Ryan Bass on social media:

#Rays Shane McClanahan throwing warm up tosses ahead of his first spring bullpen session. Told me this morning he’s “100%” ready to go with zero restrictions. #RaysUp

Back at the winter meetings in December, Erik Neander (Rays President of Baseball Operations) said he expects McClanahan to work around 150 innings this season.

When healthy, the 27-year-old is one of the best pitchers in the sport and his return should do wonders for the Rays, who finished fourth in the American League East in the 2024 season.

A three-year veteran, McClanahan is already a two-time All-Star. Despite getting injured at the end of 2023, he still finished sixth in the American League Cy Young voting. Lifetime, McClanahan is 33-16 with a 3.02 ERA. He strikes out more than 10 batters (10.1) per nine innings for his career.

The Rays are one of the best teams in the league at developing pitching, so it's safe to say that they don't need to push McClanahan in his return. They also have Taj Bradley, Zack Littell, Drew Rasmussen, Shane Baz, Ryan Pepiot as candidates to start games next season, so they can certainly afford to bring McClanahan along slowly if they want to, or if they need to limit his total innings.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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