Robbie Ray, the new Giants starter, intends to bring strength, aggression, and soundness to the mound.
Robbie Ray was on the lookout for regularity. He was engulfed in his own reflections. A young pitcher with the Arizona Diamondbacks, he had bat-missing stuff and a powerful left arm. However, an excessive number of those pitches were flying past the strike zone.
It happened on May 5, 2016. At Marlins Park, Arizona pitching coach Mike Butcher observed Ray conducting a bullpen session prior to the game. He saw the ambiguity in Ray’s nonverbal cues. Butcher thought the moment was ideal to slap some sand in the face of the 24-year-old pitcher before he mounted the mound that evening. “I need you to just start going after it; stop thinking about it, stop feeling about it.”
Ray answered. With ears. He began to exert more effort when letting his pitches go. And there was a booming grunt that would have made Monica Seles proud to accompany each delivery.
Since then, Ray has established himself as one of the league’s best grunters.
Trea Turner, a shortstop with the Washington Nationals at the time, told ESPN in 2017 that it “sounds like something you’d hear in the weight room.” “It sounds like someone trying to throw up a lot of weight, like a powerlifter.”
That evening, it was evident in the deserted Miami ballpark that felt like an echo chamber. It was evident on all those days when Chase Field in Phoenix had a relatively quiet audience. The pandemic-shortened 2020 season was particularly apparent, with silent cardboard cutouts serving as the only supporters.
Ray had reached his lowest point in his career, with a 7.84 ERA in seven starts and 31 walks in 31 innings. The Diamondbacks considered themselves fortunate to acquire anything for him at the trade deadline, so the groans in that 2020 season likely involved more than just effort. There also had to be some frustration mixed in.
Ray was acquired by the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for Travis Bergen, a minor league lefty selected by the San Francisco Giants in the Rule 5 draft the previous season. Additionally, the Diamondbacks contributed $300,000 to partially pay Ray’s salary. After the trade, Ray’s 20 innings showed enough potential for the Blue Jays to sign him to a one-year, $8 million contract, which ended up being the best offseason deal. Ray got an American League Cy Young Award-winning 2021 season
in return for the investment, something exactly nobody anticipated.
In 2021, Ray set AL records for both ERA (2.84) and strikeouts (248) while slashing his career walk rate in half, from 4.3 to just 2.4 per nine innings. With his back to the hitter, he coiled his torso, altered his leg lift, and broadened his stance on the rubber. He was obliged to maintain his front shoulder closed and added deception as a result of the mechanical adjustments, which improved his command of the strike zone. Ray was able to rack up a ton of extra kills and was a morningstar with one of the league’s greatest sliders. It was his best season to date. And through it all, he let out a grunt.
After making just one start for the Seattle Mariners the previous season, he underwent a full elbow rehabilitation, which included Tommy John surgery to reconstruct his ulnar collateral ligament in addition to a flexor tendon repair. Now, he is attempting to slog his way back to that level. The Giants signed Ray knowing full well that his greatest chance to play this season is to get back on the mound following the All-Star break. It might take him even longer to recover. Ray could be able to opt out of the last two years and $50 million of the five-year, $115 million contract he inked with Seattle prior to the All-Star break if he can only muster a few outstanding and healthy starts in September.
The Giants won’t benefit immediately from the Ray trade. There’s no assurance that it will assist them in any way. However, it gave Giants President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi the opportunity to send right-hander Anthony DeSclafani and outfielder Mitch Haniger to Seattle and remove some dead wood from the roster. Additionally, it presents the Giants with an opportunity should Ray, 32, be able to return to the level of play he did with Toronto in 2021.
Ray made it very clear during a conference call with Giants reporters on Friday that he still hears Butcher’s tough voice inside of him. This season, he intends to make a splash.
He must first regain his health, though.
Ray stated, “That’s my main focus.” After I’m well, everything falls into place. Since I’ve been here, I’ve only had positive experiences with the front desk, the training staff, Farhan, Bob Melvin, the manager, and Bryan Price, the pitching coach. Prior to making any decisions, including the opt-out, I believe my primary priority is becoming healthy.
Already, the new year is ushering in fresh starts. On January 10, Ray and his spouse, Taylor, welcomed a daughter, Sophia. And Ray has recovered sufficiently from the surgery on May 3 to feel as though he has gained a new body part.
