ST. PETERSBURG -- The Rays’ rotation will be nearly made whole on Monday night, as left-hander Shane McClanahan is set to come off the injured list and start Tampa Bay’s series finale against the Orioles at Tropicana Field.
It will be McClanahan’s first start in the Majors since July 30, when he exited his start against the Rangers in the fourth inning due to left mid-back tightness. McClanahan was placed on the 15-day IL the next day, but everything pointed to a relatively short stint on the shelf.
Fortunately for the Rays, that turned out to be exactly the case. On Tuesday, McClanahan pitched three perfect innings in a rehab game for Triple-A Durham and came out of it feeling fine. He rejoined Tampa Bay at the Trop this weekend, and now he’s slated to reclaim his spot in the rotation for the final quarter of the season.
The Rays will have to make a move to add McClanahan to their active roster. One option would be sending down right-hander Joe Boyle, who threw 84 pitches over 3 1/3 innings out of the bullpen in Sunday's 10-2 loss to the Orioles after being called up from Triple-A Durham on Saturday.
McClanahan is joining a rotation that still has Drew Rasmussen, Nick Martinez, Freddy Peralta and Ian Seymour. The only missing piece is right-hander Griffin Jax, who is on the injured list due to right elbow discomfort.
Jax received an injection to “calm the back of the elbow down” after undergoing testing with Dr. Keith Meister last week, but he has resumed playing catch and should soon make plans for his return to the mound.