McClanahan (back) starts rehab assignment

McClanahan said it was more of a tightness issue than a pain issue. If he makes it back during the regular season, it’d almost surely be for just one tuneup start ahead of the postseason. It’ll probably be a few days before it comes clear whether that is realistic or not.

McClanahan’s stuff was pretty normal while he gave up four runs in five innings Thursday in a loss to the Rangers, but it turns out things weren’t right. Maybe this is just a maintenance thing to try to get him ready for the postseason, but we’ll know more in a bit. This means Ian Seymour will continue to start with Griffin Jax back, though that already seemed to be part of the plan with the Rays looking at a six-man rotation. If the Rays still want to use six starters for a bit, Jesse Scholtens could be called up next week.

McClanahan struck out three batters on the night while walking one. He kept the Rangers at bay through the first three innings, but they scratched out a two-out run against him in the fourth inning then added on three more in the fifth to take control of the game. The 29-year-old southpaw generated five whiffs on 72 pitches on the day, posting a CSW of 26 percent. He’ll look to bounce back as he brings a 3.36 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and a 106/39 K/BB ratio (118 innings) into a tough matchup against the Braves in Atlanta on Thursday.

McClanahan was solid in this one, pitching four innings of shutout ball before seeing two runs come across to score in the fifth. The first run would come via a fielder’s choice by Freddy Fermin to bring in Jackson Merrill, with Xander Bogaerts coming around to score on the next at-bat on a fielder’s choice by Jake Cronenworth. McClanahan would allow a two-run homer to Jackson Merrill in the sixth inning and was pulled shortly after. McClanahan made only three starts this month, but ends August with a respectable 3.24 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP while picking up one win. He’ll look to pick up his 11th win in his next start, which is set for Wednesday at home against the Mets.

McClanahan was lights out on Saturday, holding the Orioles scoreless over five innings of work. He scattered four hits and one walk, tossing 47 of 74 pitches for strikes to collect five strikeouts. The 29-year-old right-hander will take a 3.10 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, and a 99/36 K/BB ratio across 107 1/3 innings into a start against the Padres in Tampa Bay on Friday.

McClanahan threw just 57 pitches in his return from the injured list, his first outing since hitting the shelf with mid-back tightness in late July. He surrendered four hits, including a second-inning solo homer to Coby Mayo. The positive news here is that he finished with three strikeouts and his fastball velocity was right in line with his previous season average at 95.6 mph. He’ll square off against the Orioles in a road tilt to close out a two-start week on Saturday.

McClanahan missed just a couple of turns back with back tightness. He’ll start against the Orioles tonight. Fantasy managers shouldn’t anticipate him shouldering a significant workload in this return outing since he threw just 30 pitches over three innings during his lone minor league rehab start for Triple-A Durham last week.

McClanahan averaged a crisp 95.7 mph on his fastball, while topping out at 97.4 mph, during the economical 30-pitch outing. He finished with a pair of strikeouts and retired all nine of the batters he faced. He’ll likely require at least one additional tune-up outing to continue building up his pitch count before returning to Tampa Bay’s rotation later this month. He’s been on the shelf with back tightness since late July.

He will miss at least two starts per POBO Erik Neander. Obviously, don’t go dropping him in any leagues at this point as this is supposedly a short-term issue. McClanahan is 9-6 with a 3.09 ERA and 91 strikeouts in 99 innings after missing all of 2024 and 2025.

He added that the team is “hoping” he only misses two starts and that the club considers it “pretty minor.” McClanahan left Thursday’s start with mid-back tightness after three innings and change with diminished velocity.