TAMPA — The Rays are 86 games into the season, and their usual rotation has combined for 85 of those starts.

No injuries, no openers, no concerns since the end of spring training when Shane McClanahan went on the injured list with a nerve issue. Tampa Bay starters have thrown more innings than any team in the American League, a year after finishing 12th in innings pitched.

It’s clearly one of the biggest reasons the Rays went into Tuesday night’s game atop the wild-card standings and breathing down the necks of the Yankees in the AL East.

The question is whether the Rays need to be concerned about the rotation’s workload.

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At this point all five starters — Ryan Pepiot, Zack Littell, Taj Bradley, Shane Baz and Drew Rasmussen — are on track to set career highs in innings pitched. That’s a good thing. It was among the top goals for each one of those pitchers.

But, now that the Rays are in good position for a postseason berth, is it worth considering cutting back on some of those innings to make sure the rotation is still somewhat fresh in October?

The Rays pulled Rasmussen after three laborious innings on Monday night, keeping in mind that this is his first full season after a third elbow operation. Baz is also just a couple of seasons removed from Tommy John surgery and rehab.

“Those conversations are pretty constant,” manager Kevin Cash said. “We’re pretty mindful of Ras’ workload. All of their workloads. I think Ras and Baz are the (main) two, coming off those injuries and what they did or did not do last year as far as getting innings under their belts.

“We need to continue to have the conversations. We certainly do not know what the exact right thing to do is, but we’re going to prioritize them and their health. And we know how much it means to us to keep them on the field and contributing the way they have in the first half.”

Rasmussen clearly was unhappy about leaving Monday’s game early, but said he understood the rationale after having an “adult conversation” with Cash.

Pepiot, who is scheduled to start Wednesday’s afternoon game against the Athletics, said all of the pitchers want to go as deep into games as possible but are mindful of the ultimate goal of playing well in the postseason.

“We’re getting to that midpoint and we’ve thrown a lot of innings so far as an entire group and taking the ball every fifth or sixth day. We all take big pride in that,” Pepiot said. “We also know there’s going to be times where, ‘Hey, we have 15 (games) in a row and you’ve got three (starts) in a row on (the fifth) day. We might make one of them a little shorter.’ And they’re very good at communicating with us about things like that.

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“They’re not going to tell us pregame so it’s in the back of your mind, but afterwards they’re going to give us an explanation.”

How the Rays go about keeping the starters fresh will be a work in progress. In the past, they’ve taken advantage of minor aches and pains to put a pitcher on the injured list for a minimum stay. They’ve shortened some starts like they did with Rasmussen and they’ve extended the rotation by bringing up somebody from Triple A to make a spot start during a heavy load of games.

“Everybody has a little bit of a different opinion,” Cash said. “This is between our front office, Erik (Neander), Kyle (Snyder), myself, Jorge (Moncada), our training staff. Nobody says you have to do it this way, or this is the right way to do it. We’re just trying to make the best decision.”

Mac is backShane McClanahan, seen here during spring training in February, could be back in the lineup in August.Shane McClanahan, seen here during spring training in February, could be back in the lineup in August. [ JEFFEREE WOO | Times ]

McClanahan threw a bullpen session before Tuesday’s game and the two-time All-Star appears ready to take his rehab to the next level.

“I saw it, it (went) really, really well. I’m glad I got to see it. Really encouraged,” Cash said. “I got some video when we were on the road trip of him throwing off the mound and he really looked like himself. And then today, very encouraged the way he looked.”

Because it’s been more than three months since he pitched in a game, McClanahan will essentially need to go through a spring training-like buildup before being activated. Cash said he might throw another side session or two before facing hitters in batting practice or a Florida Complex League game and then going to Triple-A Durham. Early to mid-August would seem to be a safe target date.

Miscellany

Reliever Manny Rodriguez also had a successful bullpen session on Tuesday. Rodriguez has been out since June 11 with a forearm strain. He’s expected to pitch in Florida Complex League games soon. … It’s not as sexy as a home run record, but Junior Caminero is on pace to shatter baseball’s single-season record for double plays. The third baseman had already grounded into 22 double plays going into Tuesday night, which put him on pace for 42. At least he’s in good company. The current record is 36, set by Red Sox Hall of Famer Jim Rice in 1984. … Tampa Bay’s offense led MLB in runs (151), batting average (.280), on-base percentage (.345) and average with runners in scoring position (.336) in June.

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