Rays’ Shane McClanahan exits with apparent arm injury days before scheduled Opening Day start

Rays left-hander Shane McClanahan is scheduled to start on Opening Day this coming Friday, so he was throwing one final tune-up on Saturday. He left the outing with an apparent arm injury, and it looks pretty concerning.

McClanahan — who missed all of the 2024 season after Tommy John surgery — appeared to be in pain and signaled to the dugout immediately after this pitch. Take a look:

The reaction there with him holding his pitching arm straight down on his side looks pretty bad. McClanahan, 27, had Tommy John surgery in August 2023 and has not pitched in an MLB game since Aug. 2, 2023.

Prior to his elbow injury in 2023, McClanahan was a two-time All-Star. In 2023, he was 11-2 with a 3.29 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and 121 strikeouts in 115 innings. In his career, he’s 33-16 with a 3.02 ERA (130 ERA+). So far this spring, he’s looked like his old self and the best estimate for this coming season was that he’d throw like a No. 1 starter again. 

We now await word as to the severity of McClanahan’s injury, but at a bare minimum, this seems like troubling news for the Rays.

The Rays finished 80-82 last season, finishing in fourth place in the AL East. It was their worst season since 2017.