Tuesday, March 25

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- Shane McClanahan had just put on a masterclass inside the main stadium at Charlotte Sports Park. Facing a lineup of Rays Minor Leaguers in an intrasquad game on Monday morning while the big league squad was getting ready to play across the state, McClanahan recorded 14 outs -- his longest outing in nearly 20 months -- with ease and efficiency.

But when he walked off the mound, he was still frustrated. He wanted to practice throwing three straight changeups, the kind of opportunity this low-stakes setting afforded him, and he did exactly that against the last batter he faced. But the hitter didn’t swing, and McClanahan walked him.

“How you practice is how you play,” he said two days later, sitting in the bleachers beside a nearby back field. “I was upset.”

That was the fire that quickly made McClanahan the Rays’ ace in 2021, the edge that drove the left-hander to consecutive All-Star nods as he pitched like one of the game’s best starters in 2022 and ’23. And it’s the same competitive mentality that pushed McClanahan through his second Tommy John surgery back to where he belongs atop Tampa Bay’s rotation.

With no hitters to strike out and no opposing lineups to break down since his last regular-season outing on Aug. 2, 2023, McClanahan shifted his focus to conquering his rehabilitation. Motivated to constantly improve, he was not content with the idea of just making it back to the mound as the Rays’ Opening Day starter next week.

“You've got to have your mind set on something,” he said, “and my mind was set on coming out of this better than I was before.”

Watching McClanahan pitch this spring, you might not realize how much time he’s missed. Take it from those who know him best and watch him work every day.

“He is 100 percent as good as he was prior to the injury, which is remarkable to think about, just given the length of time that he’s missed, to be able to go out and pick up right where he left off,” Rays pitching coach Kyle Snyder said. “Provided health, there’s no ceiling.”

Said manager Kevin Cash: “He has given us no reason to believe that he is not 100 percent himself right now. His pitch shapes were the exact same in January as they were two Januarys ago.”

And second baseman Brandon Lowe: “It’s the same. He’s still [throwing] 98 [mph] when he wants it, 100 when he wants it, and the offspeed and all that stuff looks great.”

That probably shouldn’t come as a surprise. After undergoing Tommy John surgery, the same procedure he had as a college freshman, McClanahan viewed his recovery -- like everything else -- as an opportunity to get better.

“It was a long year and a half,” he said, “but I got a lot of good out of it.”

For starters, the 27-year-old put on 20 pounds of muscle, going from 195 at the time of his injury to about 215 in Spring Training. With help from team dietician Courtney Ellison, athletic trainers and staff, he followed a strict diet, weightlifting and recovery plan, believing that extra weight and muscle will take some of the stress off his arm over the course of the season.

“It was a process, but it was a fun process for me because I got to work at something,” McClanahan said. “During that whole time of Tommy John, it's like the only thing you can compete with is yourself in the training room, the diet, the rehab and how well you prioritize recovery.”

McClanahan might have some starts cut short or get a little extra rest between outings, especially at the start of the season, but he shouldn’t have an extreme cap on his workload in his return. And nobody’s concerned about his performance when he’s on the mound.

Based on what he’s done before -- combining his competitiveness with a big fastball, three nasty offspeed pitches and what Snyder called “aptitude better than anybody I’ve ever been around” -- they know what he can do.

“He'll be Shane McClanahan,” starter Drew Rasmussen said.

That is not to suggest that McClanahan will be the same as he was before, however. He’s continued to develop on and off the mound.

He has spoken more this spring about the art of pitching, an area of fascination for someone who’s understandably labeled a power pitcher.

McClanahan often references Clayton Kershaw, his pitching idol, when talking about his desire to never settle. But in this context, he brought up Justin Verlander, who is well-known for saving some of his biggest fastballs for late in the game.

“If I can go out there and be 94-95 [mph] and dial up what I need to and change speeds, locations -- to me, that's what's pitching is. I want to do more of that,” he said. “I did that my whole life and just found velo when I turned 19. … I still have it, obviously. It’s just being mindful and smart with it.”

Rounding out a trio of multiple-time Cy Young Award winners who serve as his ever-evolving inspiration, there’s Corey Kluber.

Kluber was a valuable mentor for McClanahan in 2022. They remain friends and fellow golfers. (McClanahan won the last time they played, he said.) The way McClanahan refers to Kluber probably explains all you need to know about their relationship.

“I called him Dad,” McClanahan said.

While McClanahan helped bring the famously stoic Kluber out of his shell with Tampa Bay, it was Kluber who taught the young left-hander some finer points about being a professional and handling adversity. He helped McClanahan harness his competitive fire into what Lowe called “much more of a controlled fire.”

“One thing he always did a really good job with is being even-keeled,” McClanahan said. “Being out of the game for the last year or so made me realize it's not life and death with success and failure. … It kind of frees you up to go do what you're good at without any distractions.”

Which brings us back to McClanahan’s intrasquad game. Despite his initial frustration, he was proud of his process. He stuck to his game plan. He needed to work on something, and he did. He accomplished his goal.

“It's about how you feel. 'Did you get better today?'” McClanahan said. “And I got better.” 

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