CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Rays ace left-hander Shane McClanahan said he feels great. His left elbow, following Tommy John surgery, is structurally sound. But McClanahan, more frustrated than angry, can¡¯t offer a timetable for when he can return to the mound.
McClanahan was supposed to be Friday¡¯s Opening Day starter when the Rays host the Rockies at their adopted home of George M. Steinbrenner Field. Instead, McClanahan will begin the season on the injured list. He ¡°felt something grab¡¯¡¯ after a third-inning pitch during Saturday¡¯s Grapefruit League game in Port Charlotte and immediately left the mound. Doctors have diagnosed McClanahan¡¯s plight as nerve irritation in his left triceps area.
¡°I¡¯m definitely frustrated,¡¯¡¯ McClanahan said as he leaned up against the wall outside the visitors' clubhouse at BayCare Ballpark, prior to Monday¡¯s spring finale against the Phillies. ¡°I¡¯ve done a really good job of controlling everything I need to control. God¡¯s honest truth, man, is I felt great. Felt great all Spring Training. Felt great two innings into that [Saturday] outing, and it¡¯s just a freak thing, you know?
¡°It¡¯s just an irritated nerve that we've just got to let calm down. Granted, the situation could be a lot worse. I¡¯m very frustrated that I¡¯m going to be missing a little more time, and hopefully, the city of Tampa knows that I want to be out there more than anything in the world right now.¡¯¡¯
On the one hand ¡
¡°I¡¯m hoping it goes by quick, and obviously, I¡¯m going to try and do anything I can to help wake it up a little bit,¡¯¡¯ McClanahan said. ¡°Once that nerve decides to calm down, I can get a baseball in my hand and we go. Hopefully, we don¡¯t have to worry too much about building back up and won¡¯t miss too much time.¡¯¡¯
But on the other hand ¡
¡°I¡¯ve never had a nerve issue in my life before,¡¯¡¯ he said. ¡°And I¡¯m really glad I¡¯ve never had a nerve issue in my life before. It grabbed and just radiated down. It didn¡¯t feel great. As soon as I walked off the mound, I told [manager Kevin] Cash, ¡®It¡¯s not the elbow. It¡¯s not the elbow.¡¯ I wanted to give him that reassurance. But, you know, I didn¡¯t know what it was.¡¯¡¯
McClanahan, a two-time American League All-Star, missed the entire 2024 season. He last pitched in a regular-season game on Aug. 2, 2023.
¡°Shane is a normal, healthy pitcher,¡¯¡¯ said Cash, who regarded McClanahan¡¯s diagnosis as good news because there¡¯s no threat of surgery or a prolonged absence. ¡°It¡¯s a slow buildup [coming off Tommy John surgery], but he did a lot of throwing heading into his offseason, then shut it down and came back like a guy who had pitched all of last year for us.
¡°It¡¯s just a matter of trying to get this nerve to calm down where you don¡¯t have the tingling or any lack of range of motion from the arm down. So you calm it down, you take some time down and you hope the medicine also plays a role in [helping] to connect the dots. Shane wants some of that feeling to come back, and sometimes, it doesn¡¯t happen overnight.¡¯¡¯
McClanahan said the nerve issue was not directly related to his Tommy John surgery.
¡°Dr. [Keith] Meister reminded me that I¡¯m in the ninth inning of my recovery, and you knew there was going to be some blips and bumps along the road,¡¯¡¯ McClanahan said. ¡°The way we¡¯re viewing it, it¡¯s just a freak thing where the tricep -- at extension -- just compressed wrong against the nerve. It¡¯s like when you hit your funny bone and it doesn¡¯t feel great.
¡°It¡¯s really hard for me, knowing that, physically, I¡¯m healthy, and the muscles, the tendons -- everything is great. Coming back from surgery while getting your arm accustomed to the stresses, intensity and workload of what pitching is ¡ [Dr. Meister] likes to describe it as you¡¯re grooving new patterns of throwing. There are bumps and bruises along the road. Unfortunately, I had a tricep interact with the nerve, so here we are.¡¯¡¯
Right-hander Ryan Pepiot will be the Rays¡¯ Opening Day starter on Friday. McClanahan will be on the IL. McClanahan called Pepiot to wish him the best and tell him that he was deserving and earned the honor.
¡°It was probably the sweetest Opening Day that I was ready to have,¡¯¡¯ McClanahan said. ¡°I felt as good as I ever have on the mound. I felt like a complete pitcher. But freak injuries or freak occurrences, they¡¯re just a part of human life. And as frustrated as I am, I can¡¯t control it.
"These guys [on the pitching staff] are so prepared for it. I really wish I was with them right now. When I get to join them, I¡¯ll be over the moon.¡¯¡¯