When the 2020 season ended, the Blue Jays listed strike throwing as one of their very top priorities entering the offseason. Then, they jumped out ahead of the market to re-sign lefty Robbie Ray, who’d just led the league in walks.

Makes sense, right? Well, we’re starting to see why the organization did that. 

Ray struck out nine over six solid innings in Wednesday’s 9-4 win over the A’s, and his fastball was the star of the show once again. Ray’s four-seamer topped out at 97.6 mph after hitting 98-plus mph in each of his last two starts, which is the first time he’s touched that number since 2016. His bump in velocity is working, too, with 11 whiffs on 31 forced swings (35%) on the four-seamer, also well above his career average. 

“It’s confidence,” said manager Charlie Montoyo. “He’s throwing strikes with all of his pitches. He didn’t walk another guy today, right? That’s just outstanding. That’s tough to do when you’re someone who throws max effort like him, to throw that many strikes. He’s been really good. When we took him out, I told him, ‘Robbie, keep pitching like that, man.’”

It wasn’t perfect, of course, with a pair of solo home runs doing most of the damage, but the most important number in Ray’s line is the “0” in the walks column. Ray hasn’t walked a single batter since he walked six back on April 18, covering a stretch of 21 innings. That’s the longest such streak of Ray’s career, blowing past his previous high of 18 1/3 innings set back in 2017, the best season of his career. 

It’s a stunning turnaround for a pitcher who walked 45 batters in 51 2/3 innings just one year ago, which dragged his ERA to 6.62. Ray has evolved and he’s a much different player than he was five years ago, but getting back to his 2017 form still has to be the goal. 

“There’s some glimpses of it,” Ray said. “There’s still some things that I’d like to work on. I feel like my slider could be better. In '17, I had that wipeout slider, whereas now, I feel like I’ve been throwing it in the zone and getting some outs with it. There are still some things I need to work on, but for the most part, I feel better than I did in '17.”

Ray's solid outing kept the game close long enough for his offense to have its big inning in the eighth. It wasn’t the sort of rally you’d expect from this powerful lineup, though. It started with a Reese McGuire walk out of the nine spot and was built on singles, stolen bases, runners moving on passed balls and even a squeeze play with Cavan Biggio laying down an RBI bunt.

There weren’t many hard-hit balls, but the end result was a five-run frame.

Ray’s timing with his sudden turnaround is important, too. This Blue Jays rotation continues to deal with injuries, so a combination of healthy starters and an underrated bullpen have combined to keep this thing afloat. When Ray opened the season on the injured list after taking a tumble down a flight of stairs, it was Hyun Jin Ryu and a hot start from Steven Matz that helped to cover his absence. Lately, with Ryu rounding out a brief IL stint of his own and Matz hitting a rough patch, it’s been Ray’s turn to take the wheel -- and efforts like Wednesday night's will go a long way in that regard.

Phelps, Panik both leave with injuries
The win wasn’t without a cost. David Phelps came out for the bottom of the eighth, but injured himself while warming up and left with the trainer before the inning even began. The Blue Jays said Phelps felt discomfort in his shoulder and will undergo tests soon.

Phelps is off to an incredible start for the Blue Jays, allowing just one earned run with 15 strikeouts over his first 10 1/3 innings this season. The bullpen is already without Kirby Yates for the season, while Julian Merryweather was moved to the 60-day IL on Wednesday, keeping him out until mid-June. Jordan Romano and Tyler Chatwood have needed IL stints in April, too. This bullpen has performed admirably, but it’s being tested again.

Infielder Joe Panik also left after feeling tightness in his left calf while running out a ground ball on Wednesday. He, too, is going for testing. The Blue Jays don’t have any additional position players with them on their taxi squad, though, so they’ll need to mobilize players quickly if there are moves to be made.