Shane McClanahan DVOA, Advanced Stats, & Fantasy Rankings

The Tampa Bay Rays have placed left-handed pitcher Shane McClanahan (triceps) on the 15-day injured list on Wednesday. McClanahan suffered this injury during his spring training start on Saturday afternoon. He left the contest early in pain after throwing a pitch. After the contest, he was diagnosed with a nerve-related injury and was not given a definitive timetable. Fantasy managers should continue monitoring his status, but should not expect him back on the mound soon. As a result, this will open a spot in the starting rotation for Drew Rasmussen, who was not guaranteed a spot in the rotation. McClanahan was working his way back from Tommy John surgery. He was unable to pitch at all in 2024. In the 2023 season, the southpaw posted a 3.29 ERA with a 1.18 WHIP. He is still worth stashing in all formats as he will carry high strikeout upside when he returns.

Tampa Bay Rays left-hander Shane McClanahan (triceps) said that his arm is already feeling better on Monday, but there's no timetable for his return from nerve irritation in his triceps that will land him on the injured list to begin the regular season. He's waiting for the nerve to calm down. "Granted, situation could be a lot worse. I'm very frustrated that I'm going to be missing a little more time," McClanahan said. The 27-year-old southpaw was pulled from his Grapefruit League start early on Saturday due to nerve irritation in his triceps, and while he may have escaped something very serious, the fact that McClanahan is without a timetable to resume throwing means he could easily miss the first month of the season, if not more. McClanahan has already had Tommy John surgery twice as well, so fantasy managers are going to be very hesitant to pull the trigger on him in drafts this week.

Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Shane McClanahan has an inflamed nerve in his left triceps, says manager Kevin Cash. He will still begin the year on the IL, but shouldn't miss significant time. This is great news for the lefty and for fantasy managers, who feared the worst after he left his most recent Spring Training start with the injury. After missing all of 2024 while recovering from Tommy John surgery, he will be looking to get back to his 2022 form, when he finished sixth in AL Cy Young voting. He posted a 2.54 ERA and 0.93 WHIP with 194 strikeouts in 166 innings during that year and followed it up with a 3.29 ERA and 1.18 WHIP in 2023 before suffering his elbow injury. He is one of the most exciting arms when healthy, and should be one of the highest-priority IL stashes to begin the season