My Two Cents: How Much is Too Much For Rays Ace Shane McClanahan?
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Shane McClanahan has become the best pitcher in the American League practically overnight. He's gone from the 31st overall pick in 2018 to a dominant 25-year-old left-hander who sparkles practically every outing on the mound for the Tampa Bay Rays.
McClanahan, who's back on the bump on Sunday when the Rays take on the Cleveland Guardians at Tropicana Field, is 10-3 on the season with a 1.76 earned run average, the lowest in baseball.
In 13 straight appearances, he has gone six innings or more and allowed two earned runs or less. It's the longest single-season streak since Seattle's Félix Hernández (16) did it from May 18 through Aug. 11, 2014. He's been that good.
In 2021, McClanahan's first full season in the majors, he pitched 123 1/3 innings. He's at 117 2/3 innings now, so it's more than likely that he'll fly past that number on Sunday.
Other than getting work in at the Rays' alternate camp during COVID, 2020 was basically a wasted year — right up until the Rays activated him for the postseason. He pitched 120 innings in 2019 at three minor-league spots.
So now the question remains. How much is too much when in comes to McClanahan's work load this season? It's only July 31, and we're heading into new territory for the Tampa Bay ace.
Should we be worried? Shane McClanahan has one simple answer:
No.
"I think people are more worried about my innings than I am. I feel great,'' McClanahan said Saturday in the Rays' clubhouse. "We have a good relationship here, me and (Rays pitching coach Kyle Snyder) and (Rays manager Kevin Cash). It's based on trust and how I feel.
"Ultimately, they're going to do the right things for me. I'm going to do the right thing for my body. We're going to see where we're at going forward, but I haven't mentioned it and they haven't talked to me about it. I don't know. I'm just going to keep doing my job.''
I had a simple follow-up question for McClanahan. "Is it still your goal to pitch six or seven innings every four or five days the rest of the year?
McClanahan looked at me and smiled. "Seven or eight,'' he said.
The Rays have 61 games to go, and even with off days built in, it's likely that McClanahan has 12 or 13 starts left in this season, depending on how the final few weeks play out in the playoff chase.
It's going to be interesting to see how the Rays use him. Obviously, in the midst of a huge playoff race, every McClanahan start is huge. They were careful with him around the All-Star break. He pitched 6 1/3 innings on July 13, then threw one inning in the All-Star Game on July 19.
The Rays gave him a full week after that, not pitching again until Tuesday in Baltimore, where he threw 81 pitches in seven innings before being removed by Cash. He left with a 3-2 lead, but the Rays' bullpen collapsed and lost 5-3. There was a lot of angst among the fan base that Cash should have left him in, not that their vote matters.
McClanahan never likes to come out of games, either. He feels good, feels healthy, feels strong. He wants to pitch as much as possible.
"I'm very thankful to be back into my routine,'' he said. "I feel like I'm in a good spot, and it's exciting that I'm looking forward to the last two and a half months of the season.''
McClanahan isn't sure what happens in the next decisive moment, whether that's on Sunday or some day soon thereafter.
"I don't know yet. I think ultimately it's up to me, and how efficient I am and how I do, to be honest,'' McClanahan said. "They can tell me one thing, but if I'm at 81 pitches after a certain number of innings, we'll see. If it's the right spot and the right position for the team, I would love to keep going.''
Cash spoke on the subject a few minutes after McClanahan's meeting. He thought there was a lot of overreaction to him taking his ace out after seven innings, especially in his first Rays start in 13 days.
"I think he's pretty much back to normal. I thought it was much ado about nothing,'' Cash said. "I don't know how many pitchers went eight innings coming out of the break — (the answer, none). Shane pushes it so much because he was so efficient that day, but I would expect that if he's capable of going six or seven innings, we're going to let him go.''
Cash was reminded that the Rays probably worry about McClanahan's workload more than he does.
"That's normally the case. We hear that from just about every pitcher that we have,'' Cash said. "It's probably our job to be more concerned and let those guys continue to be invincible, which we know they are not.''
No, that's very true. These guys are not robots. Just about every Rays pitcher, it seems, has had Tommy John surgery at some point in their career. McClanahan had it in college at South Florida. Drew Rasmussen, the Rays' second-best starting pitcher, has had it twice. Tyler Glasnow and others, right on down the line, have been out for long stretches, too.
The point is that managing the health of a pitching staff is the top priority. And managing your ace is on top of that list.
If McClanahan gets his wish and pitches every fourth or fifth day, he's going to bump up close to 200 innings. Times have changed, of course, and starters just don't do that any more.
Last year, only four pitchers — Philadelphia's Zach Wheeler, Los Angeles' Walker Buehler, St. Louis's Adam Wainwright and Miami's Sandy Alcantara — topped 200, with Wheeler's 213 1/3 innings.
And that's a huge jump from one year to the next, going from 123 to 200. You run the risk that something might go wrong, but McClanahan, who's the most positive person in the Rays' locker room, doesn't think about it that way,
He feels great, and has bounced back nicely from all 19 starts this year. He's been adamant that he still feels strong at the end of every start, too.
The goal — and dream — is for McClanahan to show up every four of five days for the next decade or so, and that he wins a lot of playoff games for the Rays. The perfect scenario, of course, is that he pitches a World Series-clinching game one of these days.
It is complete fact that staying healthy is the ultimate goal for everyone involved, including McClanahan, Cash and everyone in the Rays organization.
Saving an inning or two here and there does help with the ultimate goal, but so does sticking around long enough to win every game possible.
There is nothing better about this Rays season that ''Shane Day.'' When he takes the mound, it's must-watch TV, it's ''get to the ballpark and buy a ticket.''
Sunday is that day. And let's keep our fingers crossed that many more starts follow every four or five days the rest of the year.
He feels good, so let him pitch. Today, and the next time.
He's the best there is right now, and let's hope that lasts for a long, long time.
Watch Shane McClanahan's press conference
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Tom Brew is the publisher of Inside The Rays, and has been with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation network for three years. He is an award-winning writer and editor who has spent most of his four-decade career at the Tampa Bay Times, Indianapolis Star and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He has written four books.