NORTH PORT, Fla. -- Shane McClanahan had a 1-0 count against him before he threw his first pitch on Wednesday. Penalized for not finishing his pregame warmup on the mound in time, the Rays’ ace took it in stride. There’s a learning curve for everyone as MLB works to implement its new rules, and there were no hard feelings from McClanahan.
That didn’t stop McClanahan from hitting the top of the dugout steps in a full sprint to the mound for the second inning, though.
Fool me once, and all that.
“I gave it a good effort,” McClanahan said with a grin.
That the 25-year-old McClanahan felt light enough to crack wise after his first spring start spoke volumes about his outing (21 strikes in 36 pitches), which included facing many of the Braves’ top bats during the Rays’ 3-3 tie at CoolToday Park. McClanahan worked back from the initial 1-0 count to catch leadoff hitter Ronald Acuña Jr. swinging on a third strike, then he fanned Travis d’Arnaud to end the first frame.
The first inning also included a mid-at-bat meeting with McClanahan, the umpiring crew, catcher Christian Bethancourt and … d’Arnaud, the batter. All parties worked to clarify why the left-hander had been called for a quick-pitch that resulted in a balk just after Austin Riley drove a hard grounder into center field.
An opposing hitter typically doesn’t join the discussion on umpiring calls, but McClanahan said the faster everyone is able to iron out the kinks and understand the new rules, the better.
And what better time than Spring Training?
“d'Arnaud was up there, too, and he's like, 'Listen, I'm trying to understand, too,'” McClanahan said. “So you know, we're all trying to figure it out on the fly and trying to make it work.”
McClanahan also admitted to actively working to slow his game once he realized that he was moving much faster than he needed to, even with the new pitch timer.
“I felt myself kind of speed up, because you see that clock going down, you're like 'All right, I gotta go, go, go,'” he said. “After the walk, I was like, 'Just slow down a little bit. You're going eight seconds, nine seconds; just slow down, treat it like any other game.'
“And it's weird: I started throwing strikes again.”
The second inning was much more routine, with McClanahan setting down the side in order by recovering from a one-out walk to Ozzie Albies to coax Eddie Rosario into a line-drive 6-3 double play to finish his outing.
In addition to a solid two frames, McClanahan felt “strong” and healthy, which is good news for a rotation that on Tuesday learned that No. 2 pitcher Tyler Glasnow will miss six to eight weeks with a Grade 2 strain of his left oblique.
“I thought [McClanahan] looked good,” manager Kevin Cash said. “He got out of the zone that last at-bat but came back and made some big pitches, and we got the double play.
“I was glad to see him get out of the inning, because that was probably his last batter. Anytime you can have clean innings, I think your pitchers are going to be pleased with that.”