Shane McClanahan Injury: Nearing bullpen session

Rays president of baseball operations Erik Neander said Sunday in an interview with MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM that McClanahan (triceps) is expected to throw his first bullpen session Friday.

McClanahan has been out all season after he was removed from his final appearance of spring training March 22 due to left triceps nerve irritation. Though Neander said that the Rays initially expected McClanahan to return from the injured list by the middle of April after follow-up tests on his arm revealed no structural problems, the nerve issue made it more difficult than anticipated for the lefty to regain strength. Just over two months after suffering the injury, McClanahan finally seems to be making some positive strides in his recovery, as he's been steadily increasing his throwing distance off flat ground in recent weeks. He'll take another important step forward in the rehab process when he gets back on the mound later this week, but he still has several more checkpoints to hit before he's activated from the 60-day IL. Neander acknowledged that "if all goes as planned from this point," McClanahan could be ready to join the Tampa Bay rotation "somewhere in late July or early August."