Pitching in Cold Weather a Challenge, But Rays Have Handled it Well

CHICAGO, Ill. — Shane McClanahan is a Florida boy, raised on heat and humidity and used to wiping away buckets of sweat on the mound on 90-degree swamp-like days.

He's also a creature of habit. So despite having snow flurries swirling around him on Monday night at Wrigley Field in Chicago, he strolled out to the mound in shirt-sleeves despite the near-freezing temperatures.

“You’re not going to change anything up,” McClanahan said. “It's just snow.”

Snow — and cold. It was bone-chilling cold Monday night, with 15 mph winds blowing too, and feel-like temperatures in the low 30s as the night wore on. It was the fourth straight game here in the Windy City where the Rays have had to deal with cold weather. All three games over the weekend on the south side against the White Sox were played in 40-degree weather, too.

And not only is it not fun, but dealing with cold, dry, wintry weather also provides it's own challenges, too. It requires game-plan adjustments for pitchers, and dealing with the elements, no matter how much history you have with it.

You still have to perform, and for the four guys who have taken the mound first on this trip, they'e done very well despite the cold. Drew Rasmussen, Corey Kluber, J.P. Feyereisen and McClanahan have pitched a combined 18 innings in Chicago, allowing just 13 hits with 18 strikeouts. Even though the Rays are 1-3 on the trip so far, it's been hard to complain about the pitching. The Rays have only given up 13 runs in four games.

Feyereisen, who was the ''opener'' on Sunday, pitched two perfect innings, striking out three on a 40-degree day. It does not matter one bit that Feyereisen is an outdoorsman from River Falls, Wis., because it was damn cold out there for him, too.

"Just gripping the ball is tough. When you get them brand new, they are just so slick, and even the mud or dirt they put on it, it's even frozen or dusted off,'' said Feyereisen, who has pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings so far this season, allowing just two hits over five outings. ''You're out there licking your fingers or hoping for a little sweat on your neck, just to get some moisture on the ball.

"The fastball and changeup were really the two pitches I had to go to, because trying to get a good grip on the ball to spin a slider was nearly impossible. It's like an ice ball.''

Drew Rasmussen and Corey Kluber, who started Friday and Saturday, at least have some experience pitching in cold weather. Rasmussen grew up in Spokane, Wash., and Kluber pitched in Cleveland for a decade, so he pitched in a lot of cold-weather games in April and May — and even in September and October.

"With high school ball in Spokane, those first few games in the spring, you could see some 30- and 40-degree days,'' Rasmussen said. "It just brings a different set of challenges, but you just have to expect it this time of year. You just deal with it. It's fine.''

Kluber has become an expert on cold-weather pitching during his career, and he was even imparting wisdom to McClanahan on Monday night. It was a cold, damp night at Wrigley, not far away from Lake Michigan.

"Corey was telling me that the moisture in the air would help me with the grip on the ball, but I wasn’t sure if he was joking or not,” McClanahan said. He said he made sure not to over-do anything on a cold, windy night. He was fabulous, pitching six innings and with nine strikeouts, a career high. He allowed two runs, just one earned, on a Patrick Wisdom homer in the second inning. He shut down the Cubs on just two singles the next three-plus innings.

“I think it was just trusting my stuff, not trying to make it do anything more than it needs to do,” McClanahan said. “Just consistently trying to fill up the zone and attack and get ahead. I felt good, considering it was snowing. Tough game. That's how it is. One mistake, but I thought I did a lot right.”

Rays manager Kevin Cash was impressed with his ace, who threw 80 pitches as he continues to build up from a short spring.

“He was awesome,” Cash said. “Mac is doing some special things here through three starts. We're probably another start or two away from sending him back out there again and adding more pitches, but he gave us every opportunity,” Cash said.

The Rays, who have lost five of their last six games, have two more night games against the Cubs, and both will be played in chilly weather as well. Game-temperatures are expected to be in the mid-40s both nights.

Even though the Cubs' pitchers might be more used to the cold, they still don't like it either. Reliever Keegan Thompson, who allowed only two Rays hits over 3⅔ innings, still has not given up a run in 9⅔ innings this season with 11 strikeouts, two walks and four hits allowed.

“I was just trying to fill up the strike zone when it’s cold,” Thompson said. “It’s going to be tougher for guys to get hits and hit the ball out of the park, so just trying to sit in the strike zone and work quick.

"... It‘s just getting your arm warm and keeping it warm. As long as you stay warm, you have an advantage as a pitcher in colder weather.”

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