My Two Cents: Rays' Shane McClanahan Stays Perfect, Despite Too Many Walks
BALTIMORE, Md. — Shane McClanahan is a terrific pitcher. The Tampa Bay left-hander has four killer pitches, a fastball that hits 100 mph at times, two good breaking balls and a changeup that seems to be unhittable right now.
McClanahan was brilliant again Monday night, pitching six scoreless innings in the Rays' 3-0 win over the Baltimore Orioles. He only allowed four hits and struck out seven, raising his record to 7-0. The Rays, who are a major-league best 30-10, have won all eight of his starts and his ERA is now a tidy 1.76.
He'll try to do the same thing on Saturday, when he takes on the New York Yankees at 1:05 p.m. ET. It's all about winning baseball games for McClanahan, and he's perfect there. What's amazing too is that he's done it despite giving up far too many walks. He had four more on Monday night in the first meeting of the season with the second-place Orioles, but none of them scored.
That's a theme, too.
“I got myself in a lot of jams, and it’s something that I need to do a better job of eliminating those opportunities,” said McClanahan. “It just comes back to attacking the zone. I didn’t have my best stuff (Monday), but these guys behind me had my back and we found a way to get through it.”
McClanahan has walked 20 batters during these first eight starts, and that's something he really hates. But here's proof of why McClanahan is so dominant right now — and is clearly the best pitcher in the American League in my book — because despite the walks, he continues to work around them and stay out of trouble.
Here's an amazing stat — yeah, I know, I've always got them — from McClanahan. Last year, he walked his 20th batter on, get this, JULY 26, which was also in Baltimore, ironically. He had pitched 112 innings before getting to No. 20 during the 2022 season.
“We’ve talked now repeatedly about the category that Shane’s putting himself in,'' Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “He comes in against a very good (Baltimore) team, shuts them down for six innings. There was traffic, there were guys on base, there was speed on base. But he kept making pitches.”
This year, he's pitched just 46 innings with 20 walks. That would be a recipe for disaster for a normal pitcher, but McClanahan certainly isn't normal.
None of the four guys he walked on Monday touched home plate. Ramp up the pressure? Bring it.
This is nothing new though. He's been meandering around baserunners all season. The free pass hasn't hurt him. Of the 20 guys who've drawn a walk off of McClanahan, only four have scored.
None of them have mattered either. Look what happened in the game where the four guys he walked eventually scored.
- McClanahan walked Chicago's Jake Burger in the second inning of a game on April 27 and he scored on a double a few batters later. The relevance? None, whatsoever. The Rays won 14-5.
- On April 16, he walked Toronto's Bo Bichette in the first inning and he scored on a Vladimir Guerrero Jr. single. How much did that walk matter? The Rays won 8-1, snapping their two-game losing streak after winning the first 13. That's what aces do.
- On April 11, he walked Rafael Devers of the Boston Red Sox in the sixth inning of a game they were already winning 5-0. He went to third on a single, and then scored on a double play. The Rays won 7-2.
- On April 5, Stone Garrett walked in the second inning and scored on a double by Victor Robles. The Rays won this one 7-2, also.
So those four walks that led to a run? Irrelevant. McClanahan won all four starts, and the Rays won by a combined score of 36-10.
It's not something he wants to see continue, but even aces have things to work on. For McClanahan, that's all this is. He's all about winning games for the Rays, and that's exactly what he's been doing. And considering all the injuries to the rotation — Tyler Glasnow, Zach Eflin and Jeffrey Springs have all been injured, and now Drew Rasmussen is out for at least two months — McClanahan and the Rays continue to roll, with a still-amazing 30-10 record.
Tampa Bay’s 3.01 ERA is the best mark in the majors, ahead of Houston (3.30). This includes the best starter ERA (2.80) and the sixth-best bullpen ERA (3.23). Rays pitchers pace the majors in opponents’ OPS (.621), opponents’ average (.210), hits per 9.0IP (6.93), WHIP (1.13) and fewest total bases against (433).
In three starts against AL East clubs this season, McClanahan is 3-0 with a 1.06 ERA, holding opponents to a .169/.290/.220 clip, and allowing just 10 hits. It marks the lowest ERA by any pitcher against the division this season, with a minimum of 15 innings pitched. ]
McClanahan has allowed two or fewer earned runs in 15 of his last 16 starts opposite AL East opponents dating back to Sept. 8, 2021, which is amazing considering all the offensive firepower in this division. The left-hander is 9-2 with a 1.79 ERA in those games, tallying five-plus innings in 14 of the 16 contests.
It helps that the Rays also led all of baseball in runs scored. Not that he's needed a lot of it, but the Tampa Bay bats have
McClanahan’s 8.80 runs of support per nine innings pitched are second-most in the majors behind Martín Pérez (10.42) of the Texas Rangers. That's a rapid departure from last season, where his 3.73 run support average ranked 20th among AL qualifiers.
In his career since 2021, the Rays are 29-3 when providing him with three runs or more of support, compared to 9-20 with two runs or fewer of support.
The Yankees, 2-3 against the Rays so far this season, will try to figure out McClanahan on Saturday, and as we know so far, that's a tall task.
Saturday's batting orders
TAMPA BAY STARTING LINEUP
- Yandy Diaz, 1B
- Wander Franco, SS
- Harold Ramirez, DH
- Randy Arozarena, LF
- Isaac Paredes, 3B
- Taylor Walls, 2B
- Manuel Margot, RF
- Jose Siri, CF
- Francisco Mejia, C
SP — Shane McClanahan (7-0. 1.76 ERA)
NEW YORK STARTING LINEUP
- Gleyber Torres 2B
- Aaron Judge DH
- Anthony Rizzo, 1B
- D.J.LeMahieu, 3B
- Harrison Bader, CF
- Isiah Kiner-Falefa, LF
- Anthony Volpe, SS
- Jake Bauers, RF
- Kyle Higoshioka, C
SP — Nestor Cortes (3-2. 4.74 ERA)
