Monday, August 19. Game 126: McKay optioned to Durham after 9-3 blowout

Rays 3, Mariners 9

Record: 72-52

Attendance:  9,152


The Rays took one on the chin Monday night, falling to the Mariners 9-3, but the story line was not the loss, bad is it is for their long term chances of getting into the playoffs, but rather it is the wretched work of rookie pitcher Brendan McKay, who lasted two innings, giving up three hits (two were homers), three walks, and seven runs (three earned).  After the game, the Rays sent him down to Durham.

McKay's problems are very likely the result of a very busy year for the young man.  He was promoted from Class AA ball to Class AAA and then, with the Rays starting pitching razor thin, he was brought up to big leagues. He made his debut on July 29 against the Texas Rangers and went six excellent innings, which may have been misleading.  Certainly it wasn't fair to think of the kid as the savior for the 2019 starting rotation.

There was talk at the time of his call-up that the 23-year-year, the number four all-around pick in the 2017 draft, had never thrown so many innings as he had this year, which was a worry as he began pitching in the big leagues.  The Rays handled him gently, sending him down to Durham between some starts and eventually settling on a six-day rotation for him.  The idea was not to tax him too much in this his first exposure to major league hitters.

But McKay continued to impress after his first game against the Rangers.  On July 5 he pitched five innings against the Yankees, giving up three runs in a game they lost in the 11th, 8-4.  In his next game against the Orioles on July 13, he pitched five scoreless innings striking out 7 and walking none.  The first sign of trouble came against the White Sox on the 19th when he lasted three and a third giving up 10 hits and six runs in a 9-2 loss.  On August 1, he rebounded against the Red Sox winning his second game, posting five and a third innings and three runs on seven hits and one walk.  He struck out a season high eight men.

But the last three outings with six day intervals beginning on August 7, when he gave up four early runs and lost the game 4-3, six hits, one walk, two HRs, got progressively worse.  On the 13th against the Padres, he only lasted four innings, giving up five hits, six walks, and four earned runs.  Hoping McKay had bottomed out and was due for another good outing, the Rays started him against the Seattle Mariners on Monday night, but it turned out to be his worst outing yet:  seven runs in two innings on a pair of homers plus three hits and three walks.  In the eight games he has pitched this year, his ERA climbed from 1.69 to 5.55.

It seems reasonable to conclude that McKay, who has been running fast through three levels of professional baseball this summer, may well have hit his innings max for 2019.  Maybe the best plan is to shut him down before an injury shuts him down.  Maybe the best thing for him and the team is for them to get together again when pitchers and catchers show up in February 2020.