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A tale of two lefties: Rays' McClanahan faces White Sox top prospect in his MLB debut

ByMason Stacy|
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Jun 30, 2023; Seattle, Washington, USA; Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Shane McClanahan (18) walks to the dugout following the first inning against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images
Jun 30, 2023; Seattle, Washington, USA; Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Shane McClanahan (18) walks to the dugout following the first inning against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images | Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

The Rays pushed Shane McClanahan's next start to tonight, giving space for Drew Rasmussen to insert himself back into the rotation following his paternity leave. It worked out perfectly as the Rays' ace lefty will face off against the White Sox No. 2 prospect in his long-awaited MLB debut. A veteran southpaw vs. a fresh, young rookie. This one should be fun, ladies and gentlemen.

The White Sox drafted the 6'10 Noah Schultz in the first round of the 2022 MLB draft. The 22-year-old southpaw hailed from Oswego, Illinois where he attended Oswego East High School. His teammate Ashton Izzi was also selected in the fourth round of the same draft as the Mariners took their chances on the right-handed hurler. Izzi was since moved to Arizona where he plays for the Diamondbacks' Double-A affiliate.

However, Schultz is certainly the more acclaimed high school teammate as he is set to make his major league debut against the Rays. The lanky lefty has produced an impressive 2.94 ERA during his minor league tenure with an absurd 248 strikeouts in only 202.1 innings. As a Rays' fan, it would be normal to be at least a little nervous about this matchup, but we can't forget that our very own Shane McClanahan will be on the mound as well.

How do the Rays fare against pitchers in their MLB debut? Well, we can bring up two scenarios from a season ago with complete opposite outcomes.

We'll start with the dessert. Thomas Harrington of the Pittsburgh Pirates made his major league debut against the 2025 Rays on the fifth game of the season. Tampa Bay piled it on him offensively as they scored six runs in only four innings led by a Brandon Lowe home run in the fourth. The Rays would go on to win the game by a score of 7-0.

Now, to the veggies. Noah Cameron made his debut on April 30th and it was an absolute gem. In 6.1 innings of work, the 26-year-old lefty gave up just one hit and zero runs to prelude a 3-0 Royals' victory.

Okay, so what's there to be nervous about? We're just facing another left-handed Noah. Here's to a fourth straight victory for your Rays!

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