For Shane McClanahan, Opening Day Start Part of His Natural Progression
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Getting the ball on Opening Day is a big deal for any pitcher, and that's no different for Tampa Bay's Shane McClanahan, who gets the call for the Rays on Friday when they open the season against the Baltimore Orioles at Tropicana Field.
And even though he's only 24 years old, the Cape Coral, Fla. native who spent his younger days in Baltimore is ready for this big stage. And why not? After all, he STARTED his major-league career two years ago under the brightest lights imaginable — in 2020 the postseason, the first pitcher in MLB history to pitch in the postseason without ever pitching a regular season game.
That's pressure. And a massive fear of the unknown.
This is different. Sure, it's Opening Day and a sellout crowd and a new season. Maybe it's not just another game, but for McClanahan it is, shall we say, literally just another game. He's just ready to get the 2022 season started.
It’s exciting, and, it’s a big game, but I don’t know if it’s the biggest game I’ve ever pitched in,'' McClanahan said in the Rays' locker room Thursday. "But I’m definitely excited. I think the Rays have done a good job of getting me acclimated to the pressures of Major League Baseball and everything like that over the last two years. And I think I’m in a good spot today because of it.”
McClanahan, who pitched collegiately across the bay at South Florida, made four postseason appearances in 2020, including pitching an inning during the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Considered one of the top prospects in the Rays' loaded minor-league system, he earned a spot in the rotation last year, starting 25 games and posting a 10-6 record with a 3.43 ERA and 141 strikeouts in just 123.1 innings.
And now, here he is, the ace of the staff and starting on Opening Day. He'll be 25 later this month, but he's already got some veteran savvy on the mound.
“He’s very deserving, and he’s going to get better, too,'' Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “As good as he was, I think what we saw last year with the experiences that he had, with some ups and downs but the minimal downs that he had, he seemed to recover from very, very quickly, make an adjustment.
"Even if it was in the game, a rough inning, a high pitch inning, he had the ability to shorten that next inning up, be efficient. That’s challenging for a young pitcher. Young pitchers can easily have a long inning and then chase themselves to try to just get through the next inning, or get through the game. Shane seemed to have the ability to kind of nip it right there and get his pitch count in order, and do it with dominating stuff.”
McClanahan, who's 6-foot-1 and 200 pounds, can throw his fastball in the high 90s and has a curve and slider that keep getting better. His change-up is one of the best in the majors, many observers say.
He's definitely ready for this stage, especially after last season's 100-win season that ended with a divisional-round exit in the playoffs, losing 3-1 to the Boston Red Sox where McClanahan was great in Game 1 but rocked in the deciding Game 4,
New season, new stage — same bright lights.
“I think Opening Day, that moment, he’ll embrace as much as anything,'' Cash said. "He has had the reps, whether it was Sunday Night Baseball in 2021 against the Red Sox, where he pitched so good, that was a pretty loud environment here, and he's pitched in the postseason as well. He'll be fine.”
McClanahan will have plenty of friends and family at the game — ''more than 10, less than 20,'' he said with a smile. He's the youngest Opening Day starter for the Rays since the 23-year-old Scott Kazmir started in 2007. He's especially happy to have his father here to be a part of it.
“I've played catch with that guy all growing up, and he turns 70 this year,” McClanahan said. “So I know this is going to mean a lot him. I’m very excited to see them. I know. They’re excited to be here, and I’m ready to get this thing going.”
Happy Father's Day! 💙 pic.twitter.com/9Va1bdTgWy
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) June 20, 2021
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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.