Top AL starting pitcher 'highly unlikely' to pitch again in 2023

Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash delivered some bad news for his pitching staff on Tuesday when he announced that starting pitcher Shane McClanahan is "highly unlikely" to pitch again in 2023. 

Cash said that "everything is on the table" for McClanahan as he seeks a second opinion on his injured left forearm. Surgery is a very real possibility for him as he prepares to meet with orthopedic surgeon Dr. Keith Meister.

McClanahan struggled in his most recent start, allowing five earned runs in four innings against the New York Yankees back on Aug. 2. 

If he is unable to pitch again this season, that would be a crushing blow to the Rays rotation as McClanahan is not only their ace, but also one of the best pitchers in all of baseball.

He finished sixth in the American League Cy Young voting a year ago with a 2.54 ERA, and as of Friday, had a 3.29 mark that places him ninth in the American League and 12th in all of Major League Baseball.

It just adds to the uncertainty surrounding a Rays team that opened the season on a historic pace that looked to make them the runaway World Series favorite in the American League. Since starting with a 30-9 record through the middle of May, Tampa Bay has gone just 38-37 in the 75 games since. Things have been even more bleak over the past 41 games where they are just 17-24. 

It is a team that has been trending in the wrong direction for several months now and might not have its best starting pitcher for the remainder of the season and the playoffs. The Baltimore Orioles have already leaped over them in the American League East division race, and the wild card is starting to get a little more uncomfortable. The Rays still own the top wild-card spot as of Tuesday with a four-game lead, but considering where they started in April and May, that is probably not where they expected to be in early August.