The limitations of modern arm strength point towards a frustrating factor about modern pitching. There are some people pitching right now who, if they didn't overwork themselves and miss time in between amazing seasons, would be Hall of Famers. Back then you only had the occasional case, a Sam McDowell here, a J.R. Richard there, but even then it was an outside circumstance that led to the decline. Even Madison Bumgarner, the ATVing ruined his arm more than overthrowing did. But now, throwing the best season of your life means not being that good again for another 2 or 3 years, and considering that people are already coming up at 25 anyway, it's reducing people's prime.
If this was 1979, Shane McClanahan would have been up at 22, have a Cy Young by 25 and would be in the midst of a Dodgers contract by now. But no, the Rays didn't have room for him til the 2020 playoffs, he flirted with greatness but went down mid-2023, missed two seasons and is now 29 and working on a 'comeback' year. Throwing hard isn't what it used to be, man.
I think the Rays are still very thankful that McClanahan's still a mighty centerpiece of their rotation, and that he's back to 2022 form this year, working on a 6-2 record with a 2.45 ERA through 11 starts. He's still a big game guy who can take a strong workload and hold the line against great teams. I think he's still being a little careful with speeds and control but he's still very much THE guy for this team, and he, Rasmussen and Martinez have been very good at keeping runs down this year. I just feel like if the Rays had more of a sample size from him they'd have been better off. They got a ton of strong, healthy seasons out of Blake Snell, and McClanahan's very much seen in the same kind of light as Snell was, but with less to show for himself. It definitely speaks to how good McClanahan's been when he's been active, as his highest season ERA to this point is still a 3.43 from his rookie year.
The Rays in general, by the way, are still a strong AL competitor despite the bottom beginning to drop out a bit in the past week. Today the Tigers smacked around Nick Martinez and friends behind 8 innings of Troy Melton, marking their 7th loss since the rainout that could have ended the 'Yanks can't win a series against a .500 team' argument once and for all. The team is still hitting, and still surging behind the usual suspects of Caminero, Diaz and Aranda, but the depth isn't completely there [barring Ryan Vilade maybe] and the bullpen's still in shambles. This is still a good team, and they're still capable of a lot of strong run production, but the uncontested upswing they had in May might have come to an end.
...of course they don't play a .500+ team again til mid-month in LA, but apparently it's only okay to bring that up if you spend money on the team.
Coming Tomorrow- A guy who plays for one of the teams the Rays have to play next. And he got his start out of the way today, so they won't have to face him.
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