MLB All-Star Game 2022: Shane McClanahan will soon be household name

By Jordan Shusterman
FOX Sports MLB Writer

LOS ANGELES — For the first time in more than two decades and only the 10th time in MLB history, two southpaws will start the All-Star Game.

It’s Clayton Kershaw vs. Shane McClanahan at Dodger Stadium in the 92nd edition of the Midsummer Classic (8 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app).

Kershaw is one of the biggest stories of the week. Remarkably, this will be the first time the future Hall of Famer starts the All-Star Game, despite it being his ninth career invite to the event. Getting the nod from manager Brian Snitker in his home park was an appropriate honor for Kershaw to add to his long list of big-league accomplishments.

On the other side, though, the 25-year-old McClanahan represents the next generation of lights-out lefties, and he didn’t have to wait nearly as long to make his first All-Star start.

An awkward but humorous moment during the media conference Monday served pretty well to demonstrate how quickly McClanahan has risen. AL Manager Dusty Baker said he has never seen the young left-hander pitch but is excited to watch him because he has heard McClanahan is nasty.

People quickly realized that that wasn’t actually true, as McClanahan came on in relief in Game 6 of the 2020 ALCS against Dusty’s Astros and allowed three runs across 1.2 innings in a loss. McClanahan had joined the ultra-small group of players who make their MLB debuts in the postseason in the ALDS against the Yankees, as the Rays considered him one of their better bullpen options.

But this version of McClanahan? The one who entered the All-Star Break on a ridiculous run of dominance and currently leads MLB in both ERA and WHIP? 

To be fair to Dusty, he hasn’t seen this version.

After Blake Snell harnessed his electric arsenal en route to a Cy Young Award with Tampa Bay in 2018 at age 25, McClanahan appears to be on an eerily similar track in 2022. His debut regular season last year was a nice appetizer for what was to come, with flashes of brilliance en route to a 3.43 ERA in 25 starts and a seventh-place finish in AL Rookie of the Year voting.

McClanahan has always been known for his velocity, and his four-seam fastball has averaged 96.8 mph this season, making him the hardest-throwing lefty starter in the league. Yet it has been the development of his changeup — and a significant uptick in reliance on the pitch (25% up from 16% in 2021) — that seems to have truly sparked his emergence into one of the game’s best. 

Add that to the two distinct yet similarly devastating breaking balls, and you can start to understand why this guy’s numbers are so outrageous.

Tune in Tuesday as the man they call “Sugar Shane” takes the national stage at Dodger Stadium!

Jordan Shusterman is half of @CespedesBBQ and a baseball writer for FOX Sports. He lives in D.C. but is a huge Seattle Mariners fan and loves watching the KBO, which means he doesn’t get a lot of sleep. You can follow him on Twitter @j_shusterman_.