The Tampa Bay Rays are visiting the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday, with first pitch set for 7:40 p.m. ET/6:40 p.m. CT. Shane McClanahan will take the bump for the Rays, facing off against White Sox rookie Noah Schultz at Rate Field. Looking at the odds, lines and McClanahan’s strikeouts prop on DraftKings Sportsbook, here is a breakdown of how the lefty could perform in his third outing of the season.
Shane McClanahan Strikeouts Prop
DraftKings Sportsbook currently has McClanahan’s strikeouts thrown line set at 5.5 for Tuesday’s contest against the White Sox.
McClanahan finally returned to the mound to open this season, coming off back-to-back campaigns in which he didn’t log a single MLB outing. The southpaw was a Cy Young candidate midway through 2023, but he ultimately underwent Tommy John surgery that August. And just as he was poised to make his return in 2025, McClanahan suffered another injury in Spring Training and had to undergo another procedure to fix a nerve issue in his triceps.
As a result of the extended time off, McClanahan hasn’t gone too deep in either of his outings this season. He lasted 79 pitches against the Brewers on March 31, tossing 4.2 innings and allowing two hits, three walks, three runs and two earned with four strikeouts. McClanahan last took the mound against the Cubs on April 6, racking up just 69 pitches over 4.0 innings of work. The 28-year-old former All-Star gave up four walks, one hit and two earned runs with five strikeouts. He is now 0-1 with a 4.15 ERA, 1.154 WHIP, 9.3 strikeouts per nine innings and a 0.1 WAR.
Based on FanGraphs‘ Steamer model, McClanahan is projected to go 8-7 with a 3.38 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 142 strikeouts across 22 starts and 126.0 innings in the remainder of 2026. His 3.2 projected fWAR ranks No. 22 among MLB starters, while his projected 9.99 strikeouts per nine innings rank No. 21.
Shane McClanahan picks, predictions
McClanahan will return to his strikeout-happy ways sooner rather than later, but I am just not confident enough in his workload to take the over on 5.5 Tuesday night. Even before his crushing run of injuries, McClanahan was tossing more than 90 pitches in less than half of his appearances. He only came out for the seventh inning in four of his 21 starts in 2023. Now, with manager Kevin Cash and the rest of the Rays staff continuing to ease him back into his usual workload, I don’t see him going particularly deep into any contest. Especially since the Rays could very well tee off on Schultz in his big league debut, there might not be any need to push McClanahan deeper than he has already gone in 2026.
If McClanahan were more likely to go for 6.0 innings or toss 90-plus pitches, Tuesday would be a good day for him to record more than 5.5 strikeouts. The White Sox rank No. 3 in MLB with 10 strikeouts per game, after all, with Andrew Benintendi, Munetaka Murakami and Colson Montgomery all striking out in at least 30% of their plate appearances. On the other hand, the White Sox have struck out exactly four times through 5.0 innings in three in their last four games. I don’t see McClanahan bucking that trend or lasting longer than that, nor do I think he clears 5.5 strikeouts for the first time since July 2023.
Best Bet: Shane McClanahan under 5.5 strikeouts thrown (-140)
