MLBits: McClanahan Scratched From Start, Verlander Hits IL, Judge Hits No. 51, Dodgers’ Decade of Dominance, More

The recent rash of starting pitchers hitting the IL with the postseason right around the corner continued on Tuesday: Justin Verlander has hit the IL and Shane McClanahan was scratched from his start during his pregame bullpen session. That’s where we’ll start today.

Shane McClanahan Exits During Bullpen

The rash of pitching injuries to postseason contenders continued on Tuesday, when Rays starter Shane McClanahan was scratched from his start during his pregame bullpen in Tampa Bay. The American League All-Star team starter can be seen speaking with coaches before walking off the mound in the bullpen in the video below.

McClanahan owns an 11-5 record, 2.20 ERA, and 182 strikeouts in 147 1/3 innings this season. But, McClanahan, a 2018 first-rounder out of the University of South Florida, is at his career high for innings pitched at any level.

McClanahan, diagnosed with a left shoulder impingement yesterday and will undergo further testing, missed his freshman season at USF due to Tommy John surgery in 2016.

Tampa Bay reliever Shawn Armstrong made his first start of the season in place of McClanahan. Armstrong covered three innings and turned in a solid scoreless performance for the Rays in a 7-2 victory over the Miami Marlins.

Verlander to 15-Day IL

Houston will be without Justin Verlander for the first half of September after the Cy Young front-runner was placed on the 15-Day IL on Tuesday afternoon. Verlander left his start on Sunday after tossing just three innings with a lower-body issue. An MRI on Monday revealed “fascial disruption, but no muscle fiber disruption” in Verlander’s right calf.

Verlander’s placement on the IL is retroactive to August 29, when the injury occurred, and Houston GM James Click says that the Astros’ “hope and expectation is that this should be relatively short-term.”

Here’s what Verlander had to say about the injury and IL stint: “Look, there was an injury, but when it comes to calf injuries, I kind of dodged a bullet here,” Verlander said. “This is about as good of news as I could have gotten.”

Home Run Chases Update

While Albert Pujols stayed put at 694 in his quest for 700 career home runs on Tuesday, Aaron Judge moved to within 10 of Roger Maris’ 1961 Yankees single-season record. Here’s a look at No. 51 on the season for Aaron Judge:

Home run No. 51 for Judge evened him up with Roger Maris’ pace through 130 team games. Judge is just two behind Mark McGwire’s 1998 pace and four behind Barry Bonds’ 2001 pace. Here’s a look at how Judge stacks up against other all-time home run leaders seasons courtesy of The Athletic:

Through 130 team games:
2001 Barry Bonds: 55
1998 Mark McGwire: 53
1961 Roger Maris: 51
2022 Judge: 51
1998 Sammy Sosa: 51
1927 Babe Ruth: 44

Odds and Ends

  • The Mariners pounded the Tigers on Tuesday afternoon and moved to a season-high 13 games above .500 on the season. Seattle is now just a half-game behind the Tampa Bay Rays for the top spot in the AL Wild Card standings. Their playoff odds are now at 95 percent per FanGraphs.
  • Mariners rookie George Kirby tossed five scoreless innings for the M’s and made some history in the process per STATS. Kirby has not allowed more than one walk in any of his 18 starts while pitching at least four innings. Kirby owns the second-longest such streak behind Carlos Silva (22) in 2005 and is ahead of David Wells, Clayton Kershaw, and Brad Radke.
  • Los Angeles Dodgers prospect James Outman hit for the cycle on Tuesday, which is an accomplishment in itself. Still, this one was all the more special because he just hit for the cycle last week!
  • Speaking of the Dodgers, who are like an MLB The Show franchise played on easy at this point, they won their 90th game of the season on Tuesday. The Dodgers have won 90 or more games (save for the pandemic season where they won 43 of 60) for the last decade and haven’t finished a season with fewer than 80 wins since 2005.
  • Second-half Snell has arrived just in time for the September push and October. Snell’s six scoreless innings against the Giants on Tuesday lowered his second-half ERA to 2.51, which is about three points lower than his first-half ERA.
  • Add Cal Quantrill to the list of reasons why the Cleveland Guardians are pulling away (pretty much locked up) in the AL Central. Quantrill tossed six innings of one-hit ball for the Guardians in a victory over the Orioles at Progressive Field. Quantrill’s strong outing capped a perfect 4-0 month. Quantrill posted a 2.38 ERA in 38 innings in August and is 11-5 with a 3.50 ERA and 98 strikeouts this season.
  • If Michael Conforto is going to sign with a team that hopes to have him help them in October, he’ll have to do so today. Players must be on the active roster before September 1 to be deemed playoff eligible.
  • written by

    Patrick grew up in Chicago's Bridgeport and Garfield Ridge neighborhoods before moving to the Western Suburbs of Chicago before eventually relocating to the Las Vegas area with his family in 2023. He started with Bleacher Nation in 2021 and has spent time as a Staff Writer and on the Chicago Blackhawks beat. He is currently a writer and editor at Bleacher Nation covering the Chicago Bears and the NFL at large and the author of the Bleacher Nation Newsletter. Patrick is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA).

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