Rays’ Shane McClanahan Having Tommy John Surgery on Elbow Injury, Likely to Miss 2024 | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors

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The Tampa Bay Rays are reportedly going to be without pitcher Shane McClanahan for a significant amount of time.

According to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, the left-hander is scheduled to undergo Tommy John surgery on Monday. The surgery will “likely” force him to miss the entire 2024 campaign in addition to the rest of this year.

McClanahan has not pitched since he left an Aug. 2 outing against the New York Yankees after just four innings.

On Saturday, the Associated Press reported the Rays moved him to the 60-day injured list, which signaled the end of his season. The AP also noted he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2016 when he was pitching for the University of South Florida.

Injuries to the pitching rotation are nothing new for Tampa Bay this season with Jeffrey Springs, Drew Rasmussen and Shane Baz also out for the year.

But this one is particularly difficult, as McClanahan can be one of the best pitchers in the league when he is on top of his game.

He was an All-Star for the second consecutive season this year and had an 11-2 record, 3.29 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and 121 strikeouts in 115 innings prior to his injury. He was even better last season with a 2.54 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and 194 strikeouts in 166.1 innings.

Tampa Bay will miss his presence during the pennant chase and all of next season, but he is still just 26 years old and under contract through the 2027 campaign. He will have time to bounce back assuming he returns to full health.

Meanwhile, the Rays are in the middle of a playoff chase and three games behind the first-place Baltimore Orioles in the American League East. They are also leading the AL wild-card chase and in position to reach the postseason.