2 min read • October 07, 2022
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Left-handed starter Brandon McKay underwent Tommy John surgery on Sept. 14 and righty Shane Baz underwent Tommy John on Sept. 28 but the Rays, coincidentally, activated former World Series Game 1 starter Tyler Glasnow on Sept. 28 for his first start since Tommy John surgery last summer.
All-star starter Shane McClanahan recently spent a minimum stint on the IL with a shoulder impingement and has a 7.07 ERA, 16 hits and four home runs allowed, and seven strikeouts in 14 innings in his last three starts.
Relievers Andrew Kittredge, J.P. Feyereisen, Ryan Thompson, Nick Anderson, and Colin Poche are all unlikely to return this season but the bullpen has chugged along, posting the seventh-best ERA (3.35), third-most strikeouts (658), fifth-most hits allowed (586) and second-most home runs allowed (83).
Unlike their opponents in Cleveland, most of the Rays’ everyday starters from opening day missed a significant portion of the season, helping push them to the bottom-six in the league in runs, home runs, total bases, and OPS.
The good news is shortstop Wander Franco and Manuel Margot both returned over the last six weeks from hook of hamate surgery and a significant knee injury, respectively, they suffered during the summer.
Before their significant injuries that cost both Margot and Franco two months, both were nursing lingering hamstring and quad injuries through May and June.
Second baseman Brandon Lowe was shut down for the season after receiving an epidural for low-back inflammation that was reportedly not responding to treatment.
Similarly, centerfielder Kevin Keiermaier underwent season-ending hip surgery for a lingering issue and catcher Mike Zunino underwent Thoracic Outlet surgery in August.
The mid-season additions of center fielder Jose Siri, left-handed left fielder David Peralta, and catcher and first baseman Christian Bethancourt have helped fill the gaps.
The White Sox and Twins battled for the AL Central lead for much of the season but each succumbed to the losses of multiple significant players; The Guardians, meanwhile, treaded water for the first half and took the division with a 37-19 record in August and September.
That run, conversely, was catalyzed by a reliable stable of solid everyday players – and José Ramirez, five of whom played at least 145 games, seven at least 120, and eight at least 105.
Right fielder Oscar Gonzalez missed all of July with an abdominal muscle strain and slugger first baseman Josh Naylor has missed 40 scattered games working back from a gruesome fractured ankle in 2021, but otherwise the team has had the same core group of position players all season.
Cleveland’s starting pitching has been just as strong: three starters have taken the hill in 30 games and the trio – Shane Bieber, Cal Quantrill, and Triston McKenzie – combined for 58 quality starts, a 3.07 ERA, and an 8.04 strikeout per nine rate this season.
Right-handers Zach Plesac and Aaron Civale were placed on the IL for a fractured hand and forearm inflammation, respectively, in late August and returned by the end of September.
Veteran reliever Anthony Gose, who underwent Tommy John surgery after a July triceps strain, was the biggest loss this season.
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