Mar 1, 2025; Port Charlotte, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Shane McClanahan (18) throws a pitch against the New York Mets in the second inning during spring training at Charlotte Sports Park. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

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Shane McClanahan Injury Update: What Happened to Shane McClanahan? Latest Update on Rays’ Ace

The news is as good as the Rays could have hoped for

The Tampa Bay Rays are bracing for the absence of their ace to start the season, but the latest injury update on Shane McClanahan brings a sigh of relief.

McClanahan, 27, left Saturday’s exhibition game against the Boston Red Sox in Port Charlotte with noticeable discomfort after a pitch. Given that he missed the entire 2024 season following Tommy John surgery, his abrupt exit immediately raised concerns. However, evaluations on Sunday confirmed that the left-hander is dealing with nerve irritation in his triceps area, an issue unrelated to his previous elbow surgery.

The good news however is that there are no signs of muscle tears or structural damage, giving the Rays hope that this is only a temporary setback.

Tampa Bay Rays ace Shane McClanahan has an inflamed nerve in his left triceps, manager Kevin Cash said. Of all the potential outcomes after he left yesterday's game in pain, this is perhaps the best-case scenario. Will start the year on the IL but shouldn't miss significant time.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 23, 2025

“Basically, it was more nerve-related. Calm the nerve down and then see how he progresses, get a ball back in his hand. Probably the best news we could have heard,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said.

While McClanahan is expected to miss multiple starts, the team has yet to establish a definitive timeline for his return.

“We haven’t put a time frame on it,” Cash added. “I’m going to talk to Mac, see how he feels. We’ve got to just let it calm down. Obviously, he aggravated it enough to come out and need some extra treatment. But I don’t think we have a time frame quite yet. We’ll sit down with him (Monday).”

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McClanahan, who shouldn’t miss too much time if all goes according to plan, has been a crucial part of Tampa Bay’s rotation since breaking into the league. In 2022, he posted a 12-8 record with a 2.54 ERA and 194 strikeouts, earning a sixth-place finish in the Cy Young voting and starting the All-Star Game for the American League. He followed that up with an 11-2 campaign in 2023 before undergoing surgery that ended his season prematurely.

The Rays open their 2025 campaign on Friday against the Colorado Rockies, but they’ll have to do so without their ace, at least for now.

Injury update

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Tampa Bay Rays

Mohsin Baldiwala

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Mohsin Baldiwala is a Master’s student in Journalism and freelance content producer who got hooked on baseball through Seinfeld’s hapless George Costanza. The same reason why he’s a Yankees fan. He writes about sports because he believes it can offer a brief escape from the world’s chaos. Even if that means enduring the heartbreak of the 2024 World Series.