Revved-up Ray could open doors for Toronto

Robbie Ray turned back the clock and lit up the radar gun on Saturday night against the Mets, as his best effort since joining the Blue Jays creates plenty of opportunities in this playoff push.

Ray has crept into the mid-90s this season with his fastball, averaging 93.7 mph, but something was different in Saturday’s 3-2 win at Sahlen Field. The left-hander hit 97 mph, then bumped it up to 97.2 mph in the first inning, and more important than any of these numbers, he was spotting it.

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Walks have plagued Ray all season, but the Blue Jays obviously believed in his talent when they acquired the Major League leader in walks ahead of the Trade Deadline. Ray’s pitch count still climbed quickly Saturday -- he threw 90 pitches over five innings of one-run ball with five strikeouts -- but there were some flashes of 2017, when Ray posted a 2.89 ERA and was named an All-Star with the D-backs.

“In my pregame bullpen [session], I was feeling pretty good, and then I sat down for a couple minutes,” Ray said. “When I got back up, honestly, the ball felt like it was coming out pretty good. Before that, it felt OK, but it didn’t feel like 97 [mph]. When I got back up, it definitely felt like it was coming out really good.”

That 97.2 mph fastball was the hardest pitch Ray has thrown since 2018, when he topped that mark just once. Otherwise, you have to look all the way back to that excellent '17 season to find peak velocities like Ray showed against the Mets.

Velocity jumps aren’t a product of simply throwing harder, though. For some pitchers, it means more efficient mechanics, while for others it means a stronger drive with their lower body -- or any other number of things. Ray’s secret was more natural.

“The biggest thing is that I felt athletic on the mound,” Ray said. “I felt like I was getting to my load, getting to my back side and driving down the mound like I normally do. That was the biggest thing.”

Strikeouts will never be an issue for Ray as long as he’s in the same time zone as the strike zone, and that’s what gives him so much potential with Toronto in any number of roles. He’s most comfortable as a traditional starter, and Saturday’s outing earned him every opportunity to continue doing what he’s always done, but the Blue Jays have thrown traditional roles to the side in 2020. It’s worked, too, and with little certainty on how Toronto will stack up its rotation behind Hyun Jin Ryu come playoff time, it leaves the door wide open.

Young arms like Anthony Kay, Thomas Hatch, Ryan Borucki and Julian Merryweather have made fine case studies for this, and they could soon be joined by No. 1 prospect Nate Pearson when he’s healthy. They all pitch multiple innings, strike out hitters and negate the need to have a starter go a third time through the opposing lineup.

If Ray keeps pitching like this, he could be that “starter” in front of a bulk reliever in a Game 3 of a series, but a multi-inning role could also fit Ray's pitching style given his strikeout totals.

“He can be that guy,” said manager Charlie Montoyo, who’s been pleased with Ray cutting down on his walks since coming to the Blue Jays. “He’s got a history of being really good, and that’s what he did today. He was that good. I could see him anywhere. I could see him starting or I could see him coming out of the bullpen.”

Ray’s start set the table for a lineup that’s starting to come together again with the return of Bo Bichette and the addition of top catching prospect Alejandro Kirk, who scored his first run and recorded his first Major League hit. Cavan Biggio also reached a milestone with his 100th walk, becoming the fastest Blue Jays player to reach that number (145 games) and the ninth-fastest in MLB history.