Tampa Bay Rays’ Shane McClanahan, New York Yankees’ Anthony Rizzo Placed on IL

The Tampa Bay Rays (second place) and New York Yankees (last place) are on opposite ends of the AL East standings, but both will have to overcome injuries to All-Stars in the coming weeks.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Yankees placed first baseman Anthony Rizzo on the 10-day injured list with post-concussion symptoms. Later in the day, the Rays placed pitcher Shane McClanahan on the 15-day IL, a day after the 26-year-old lefty was pulled from his start against the Yankees with left forearm tightness.

Rizzo’s injury stems from a May 28 collision with San Diego Padres outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr. Rizzo missed three games after the incident, but had initially passed all concussion protocol tests. However, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Rizzo recently complained of “fogginess” to the club's training staff, and subsequent neurological testing revealed cognitive impairment.

”Hopefully, with the treatment he‘s getting, we‘ll start to see some improvements,” Boone said.

Rizzo, 33, is in his second full season with the Yankees; the franchise traded for the three-time All-Star in July 2021. On the season, he is batting .244 with 12 homers and 41 RBIs.

Since his collision with Tatis, Rizzo is batting just .172, with a sole home run and nine RBIs. From Opening Day until May 27 (the day before the collision), he batted .304, with 11 homers and 31 RBIs.

As for McClanahan, he left Wednesday’s 7-2 loss after giving up five runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. He told reporters after the game that his forearm “got tight” during his warm-ups before the inning.

McClanahan flew back to Florida for testing on Thursday, and the Rays said they "are in the process of gathering further information and updates will be provided when available."

In 21 starts, McClanahan is 11-2 with a 3.29 ERA. He is winless since June 16, however, with a 7.36 ERA in his last six starts. On July 1, he went on the 15-day IL with mid-back tightness.

Tampa Bay, at 66-45, is two games back of the Baltimore Orioles for first place in the AL East. The Rays are 5.5 games ahead of the Houston Astros for the top wild-card spot.

New York, meanwhile, is last in the AL East basement at 57-52. But the bunched-up nature of the division has the Yankees just 2.5 games behind the Toronto Blue Jays for the third and final wild-card spot.