The Tampa Bay Rays will play the remainder of the season without pitcher Brendan McKay. The 24-year-old will have season-ending surgery on his throwing shoulder. McKay had not pitched yet in 2020 but this guarantees he won’t see action until 2021 at the earliest. Rays beat reporter Marc Topkin broke the news Tuesday afternoon.
BREAKING: Brendan McKay to have season-ending left shoulder surgery on Wednesday. #Rays hopeful he can be ready for spring training 2021.
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) August 18, 2020
Rays Brendan McKay to Miss Season
Mckay last pitched as a rookie in 2019. The then-23-year-old was below average with a 5.14 ERA in 49 innings with 56 strikeouts and 16 walks. What hurts McKay is his home run per nine innings rate of 1.5. His FIP, a measure of pitching independent of defense and other factors, was better at 4.03. The home runs prevented McKay from having what would have been a very solid rookie season.
The San Diego Padres originally drafted McKay in 2014 but he decided to attend college and Tampa selected him in the first round of the 2017 Amateur Draft. He cruised through the Tampa Bay minor leagues since his selection, reaching Triple-A in just two seasons. McKay’s minor league career saw him post a 1.78 ERA and 226 strikeouts in just 172 innings. He also shows some two-way potential with a .214/342/355 slash line. His future as a two-way player is under scrutiny but there’s still a chance he could pitch or play either first base or designated hitter when he returns.
What This Means for the Future
The Rays don’t really need McKay to be successful in 2020. They are already 14-9 and just two and a half games behind the New York Yankees in their division. Their pitching is doing fine and the lineup has no obvious holes outside of catcher. The Rays have one of the best farm systems in baseball but they aren’t shy about giving good prospects like McKay legitimate shots at playing time. Tampa could have tried him at first if switch-hitting Ji-Man Choi continued to struggle but the team will hope that his shoulder is good to go for spring training in 2020.
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