The Rays have reinstated left-hander Josh Fleming from the 60-day injured list, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. In corresponding moves, right-hander Cooper Criswell was optioned to Triple-A while lefty Shane McClanahan has been transferred to the 60-day IL. McClanahan will now be ineligible to come back until early October, meaning he won’t return in the regular season. Manager Kevin Cash said a few days ago that it was “highly unlikely” McClanahan would return this year.
Fleming, 27, tossed 48 2/3 innings for the Rays earlier this year, allowing 4.62 earned runs per nine frames. He landed on the injured list in early June due to elbow inflammation but has now returned after just over two months. He had previously been working in a multi-inning role, making starts or serving as a bulk pitcher behind an opener. He will likely return to that role, as his four rehab outings were all two innings or longer.
The Rays have a fair amount of rotation uncertainty, with Jeffrey Springs and Drew Rasmussen already out for the year due to elbow surgery. It also seems highly likely that McClanahan could be in that category as well. As mentioned, Cash has said it’s not likely he’ll be back this year, with “everything on the table.” That includes Tommy John surgery, which would put McClanahan’s 2024 season in doubt as well. The path forward hasn’t been confirmed, but this transfer means that the best-case scenario has him returning for the playoffs in October.
The current rotation consists of Tyler Glasnow, Zach Eflin, Aaron Civale and Zack Littell, with Fleming likely factoring in as well, either via traditional starts or bulk outings. All of those guys have fairly significant injury histories, to various degrees, making rotation depth a key focus for the club going forward. Taj Bradley has been optioned to the minors and could be recalled at some point.
The Rays are 70-48 and currently possess the top Wild Card spot in the American League. They will surely be hoping to keep their remaining starters as healthy as possible for the rest of the regular season schedule and a potential postseason push thereafter.
Wrote it before….
Injuries – or lack thereof – will determine those in the playoffs this year as well as how far they go.
This is disgusting. Don’t know about others, but I follow MLB to watch teams win or lose. I want to see the best play the best. Who wants to follow 6 months of a season only to have the outcome determined by which players are still standing? MLB’s hierarchy needs to do something abut this.
What MLB FO’s are doing is worse than playing every game as if it were the 7th game of the World Series. A 164 game season with extended playoffs that can get into November, and no one is pacing themselves.
Every pitch thrown is being computerized for speed and break – with the data available not just to teams but to the general public (there may be a fee involved). A hitter is measured for how hard he hits the ball (if he does), how far, how high, how low, or not at all. Foul balls and pitches seen are counted. How fast a baserunner runs. How much ground a defensive player covers. How hard a defensive player throws. EVERY SINGLE GAME!
This is like something out of a bad science fiction movie.
Meanwhile TJ surgery has gone from an epidemic to the new normal. Guys are crashing into walls to make the highlight reels, then get hurt and miss a month or two because of it. Baseball used to be called “The Thinking Man’s Game”. Excusing the sexism, it’s now being played like Roller Derby….without the pads.
Old man yells at cloud.
Eh he’s doing some of that but I think his point that analytical measurement has increased the intensity of the regular season may be worth consideration
Every year, the team that stays healthy tends to go far. This is nothing new. Spoiler Alert: Teams with depth also do well.
Old man replies to self cause no one else will play with him
I know the man has produced results throughout most of his career, but in my opinion the approach of managing every inning of every game as if it was the ninth started with Bruce Bochy. It’s like a burn the furniture to heat the house approach. Now it’s standard operating procedure – almost everyone managing every pitch as if their life depended on it using endless analytics. It’s only a matter of time before someone somewhere manages a team using AI……if they aren’t already.
I don’t know how you can blame Bochy for this. His teams didn’t have the issues that Samuel is complaining about. They won the WS every other year. That’s consistency over a 6 or 7 year period.
We can look back at the last 50 years and point out seasons where teams lost key players to lose a division, miss a playoff or lose a World Series because of it. It sucks but that’s reality.
There were pitchers available to them at the deadline but they were too arrogant to go out and grab one. With Shane out and Eflin turning back into the pumpkin he was before he got there, they’re done.
They actually traded one of their top prospects for the Guardians starting pitcher who was having the best year of anyone on their staff. I think that counts.
Civale doesn’t count. He had a good July but has been hit hard since being a Ray. They needed a top of the rotation guy but it’s almost impossible to find one that doesn’t have Tampa Bay on their no trade list. Things will only improve when they demolish that stadium
Why does every comment about the Rays have to include a comment about the stadium or the perceived lack of Rays fans? No matter how unrelated the subject is, it all somehow ties back to the stadium or the perceived lack of fans. .
It just does. I don’t make the rules.
What “top of the rotation” guys were out there? Scherzer isn’t that guy anymore and while Verlander is still good, he’s 40. Talk about an injury risk! Who knew Lorenzen would pitch like this? Actually, with Civale, they did about as well as they could have IMO.
There may be only one AL East team to make the Wild Card.
Fleming is not a good option for long innings or starter replacement at all he is a gas can waiting for a match.
Shane McClanahan season? More like Rue McClanahan season. Amirite?