After Shane McClanahan's injury, Rays' Opening Day starter remains confident in 'fantastic' rotation

Shane McClanahan, the Tampa Bay Rays ace, is going to miss the start of the season with an injury. He will miss his Opening Day start on Thursday due to nerve irritation in his left triceps.

In his absence, though, other starters are going to have to step up. They've lost the top of their rotation, forcing everyone to pitch a little above their normal level. Despite that, new Opening Day starter Ryan Pepiot is confident in his team, and he's particularly excited for when they have McClanahan back:

"It's a very fun group. We're a very tight-knit group as well ... They're all fantastic. McClanahan is a certified ace, a couple-time All-Star. Don't have to talk a whole lot about him. Taj is incredible, fantastic stuff.

"Electric stuff. Super excited for him to be back in the rotation. He throws hard, mixes speeds. Littell paints and pitches a little different... Shane Baz, getting a full year. It's going to be exciting to watch because he's got electric stuff as well."

Pepiot, who was the primary return in the Tyler Glasnow trade in 2023, said it's fun to pitch, but he finds it just as fun to sit in the bullpen and watch his teammates pitch.

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No timeframe for Shane McClanahan's return to action

When a pitcher goes down in Spring Training, the news is often pretty disappointing. Players end up like Luis Gil (out for at least three months) or Gerrit Cole (out for the season) a lot.

Shane McClanahan got hurt (Imagn)

That's not the case for Shane McClanahan, though. All things considered, his manager Kevin Cash believes they dodged a little bit of a bullet. He said via ESPN:

"Probably the best news we could have heard. We haven't put a timeframe on it. I'm going to talk to Mac and see how it feels. We've got to just let [the triceps] calm down. Obviously, he aggravated it enough to come out and need some extra treatment. But I don't think we have a timeframe quite yet.''

Despite the good news, they don't know when Shane McClanahan will be able to rejoin the rotation. McClanahan said he was frustrated with the injury via MLB:

“I’ve done a really good job of controlling everything I need to control. God’s honest truth, man, is I felt great. Felt great all Spring Training. Felt great two innings into that [Saturday] outing, and it’s just a freak thing, you know?"

He hopes his team and the fans understand how much he wants to be back out on the mound right now, but he can't yet.