Shane

McClanahan

Both McClanahan and Noah Schultz struggled to consistently locate during Tuesday’s effort, and McClanahan walked four — the same as Schultz — while striking four as well. He would have gotten away with it if not for a Everson Pereira homer with two on, but all things considered, this could have gone much worse. He’ll take a 3.95 ERA into a scheduled bout Sunday against the Pirates in Pittsburgh.

As expected, Rasmussen will return from paternity leave to make his start in Sunday’s series finale against the Yankees. Joe Rock was optioned back to Triple-A Durham in a corresponding move. That means Shane McClanahan will now start on Tuesday and will be lined up to make two starts next week.

Topkin notes that there are still discussions to be had before that’s confirmed though. Rasmussen missed his start on Tuesday as his wife went into labor and he landed on the paternity list. If he does indeed go on Sunday, that means Shane McClanahan will have his start pushed back until Tuesday against the White Sox in Chicago.

It had to be an emotional moment for McClanahan, taking the mound at Tropicana Field for the first time since July 22, 2023. The 28-year-old southpaw averaged 94.3 mph on his four-seam fastball and generated just six swinging strikes, needing 69 pitches (35 strikes) to complete four frames. He battled some serious control issues in this outing, handing out a whopping four free passes, but still managed to limit Chicago’s formidable lineup to just one hit. He’ll close out a two-start week with a home matchup against the division-rival Yankees on Sunday.

The results were mixed, but McClanahan just being on the mound is a win. It was his first start since 2023, as the southpaw has been set back by Tommy John surgery and a nerve issue. He blanked the Brewers over the first four innings, but lost his command in the fifth with a couple of runners coming home. His fastball was consistently over 95 mph, and he struck out four to go with three free passes. Expect some ocassional bumps, but this was encouraging. He gets the Cubs on Monday.

McClanahan generated eight swings and misses in his five frames, and he struck out four against two walks. The 28-year-old looks healthy, and he was able to get his sinker up to 96.8 mph in what was likely his final spring start. There’s a ton of volatility in McClanahan’s profile, but it’d be foolish to write off what was among the best southpaw starters in baseball not that long ago.

The 28-year-old southpaw walked two batters on the afternoon and didn’t allow a hit. McClanahan struck out the side in the first inning, then added one punchout in the second, two more in the third and another before exiting in the fourth inning. He got 10 swings and misses on 55 pitches on the afternoon, posting a strong CSW of 35 percent. His velocity improved a bit to 94.8 mph on his average fastball in this one, which is still two ticks below where he sat prior to his elbow injury. He’s capable of this type of dominance any time out, it’s the consistency that fantasy managers will need to see during the 2026 season for him to justify his draft cost.

The left-hander struck out three and walked one, but the key story here was that he sat 94.2 mph on his four-seam fastball. He was 93.8 mph in his spring debut, and there was talk that he was only throwing at about 80 percent. You would have hoped to have seen an uptick in velocity here, but he remains well below the 97 mph average that we saw from him prior to injury. He did get plenty of whiffs on his changeup, which is nice to see, but we’ll hope for a little upside in velocity in his next outing if we’re going to have faith that he can still be a high-end fantasy starter.

Despite diminished velocity, McClanahan was effective in going without a walk and picking up one strikeout. His fastball averaged 93.8 mph, which is down three mph from when he was last seen in 2023. He did peak at 96.7 mph, though, so it doesn’t seem like that velocity is gone forever. Fantasy managers need to have limited expectations, but he’s not long removed from being among the best left-handed starters in baseball.

He did well, per Cash, in throwing “2 innings” of live batting practice today. We’d love to have some data on McClanahan before draft season concludes — he certainly could be a great bargain if he’s finally healthy. Tuesday’s appearance will tell us a lot about how seriously we should take his chances of pitching in the majors after two consecutive lost seasons.