Shane McClanahan Not Available For Division Series

The Rays have ruled out Shane McClanahan for the Division Series, manager Kevin Cash told Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times. He could return later in the postseason if Tampa Bay advances. The Rays haven’t ruled out the possibility of relievers Tyler Wells and Garrett Cleavinger being ready for the ALDS. McClanahan has missed most of September with forearm tightness. He’s had a couple injured list stints but had a successful showing in his return from two lost seasons. McClanahan finished the regular season with a 3.36 earned run average despite a career-low 21.8% strikeout rate across 118 innings. Tampa Bay still has a strong top three for the playoff rotation. Drew Rasmussen will surely go in Game 1. Nick Martinez and Freddy Peralta are likely to go in Games 2 and 3, respectively. Assuming there’s no sweep, they could either bring Rasmussen back on short rest or (more likely) run one of Griffin Jax or Ian Seymour in Game 4. Jax has been the better of those two, but the Rays could have both pitchers available out of the bullpen earlier in the series and make their Game 4 decision based on usage in the first three games. That’ll also be impacted by whether either or both of Wells and Cleavinger are available. Wells went on the shelf last week with forearm tightness. Cleavinger, also dealing with forearm tightness, has been out since September 5. Manuel Rodríguez (back strain) is also on the 15-day IL and could be activated before the end of the regular season. Wells and Cleavinger are key setup arms in front of All-Star closer Bryan Baker. If they’re not available for the start of the playoffs, Kevin Kelly and Cam Booser would respectively be their top setup arms from the right and left side. Ty Johnson, Cole Sulser, Casey Legumina and top prospect Brody Hopkins are among those vying for the final couple bullpen spots on the playoff roster. Tampa Bay officially wrapped up the AL East and clinched home field until the World Series with last night’s win in the Bronx. They’ll face the winner of the Yankees vs. Red Sox first round series, which is all but officially locked in as the 4-5 matchup. Game 1 will be at Tropicana Field on October 3. View Comments (2)