SAN DIEGO -- Robbie Ray has been traded four times over his professional career, the most recent of which brought him over to the Giants from the Mariners in January 2024.
The expectation is he’ll be moved a fifth time in the coming days, as the 34-year-old left-hander is viewed as a prime rental candidate leading up to Monday’s Trade Deadline.
In what will likely go down as his final start for the Giants, Ray showed contending teams what he could offer. He fired six innings of one-run ball to lead San Francisco to a 4-1 series-opening win over the Padres on Thursday night at Petco Park.
“With the Trade Deadline coming up, I just tried to put everything out of my head as far as leading up to this start,” Ray said. “But it obviously comes up now that this could be my last start in a Giants uniform.”
Ray allowed only four hits -- including a two-out RBI single to Xander Bogaerts in the second -- while walking one and striking out six, improving to 7-0 with a 1.65 ERA over his last 10 appearances (nine starts).
The 13-year veteran finished the night strong, hitting 95.2 mph with his four-seam fastball while striking out Manny Machado and Ty France to leave a runner stranded at second base in the bottom of the sixth inning.
“It was phenomenal,” manager Tony Vitello said. “He kind of showed you who he is there. You may get something done against him. They obviously get the one run. But he’s so good at managing innings and navigating his way through the lineup the entire game. He kind of emptied the tank there at the end and left it all on the table, which is normally his deal, too.”
Ray’s recent run of dominance should make him an attractive target for teams that are hunting for rotation upgrades down the stretch. The two-time All-Star and 2021 American League Cy Young winner won’t come cheap, though, as he’s owed the remainder of his $25 million salary for 2026, the final season of the five-year, $115 million deal he originally signed with Seattle in November 2021.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported Thursday that the Giants might be willing to pay down some of the approximately $8 million that’s left on Ray’s contract this year, which could yield a better prospect return for a team that has its sights set on the future after sinking to fourth place in the National League West with a 47-62 record this year.
The Giants made a big bet when they acquired Ray from the Mariners in exchange for right-hander Anthony DeSclafani and outfielder Mitch Haniger, as the veteran southpaw was in the middle of rehabbing from Tommy John surgery.
Ray posted mixed results when he finally made his Giants debut in July 2024, but he managed to return to form the following season. In 2025, he logged a 3.65 ERA over 32 starts while earning his first All-Star nod since 2017, emerging as a reliable co-ace to right-hander Logan Webb.
“I’m super thankful that they gave me the opportunity mid-rehab to come over here and continue the rehab process with the guys they have over here,” Ray said. “The training staff has been amazing. I was given the opportunity to pitch -- I think that was the biggest thing. Get back on the field and do what I love to do.”
Ray’s production atop the rotation has remained steady this year, especially after he started to incorporate more of his sinker midway through the season. He has a 3.08 ERA over 22 overall appearances, which ranks 10th among NL starters this year.
“I feel like I’ve been locked in lately,” Ray said. “I feel like my last few starts -- my last two in particular -- I felt like I was kind of on cruise control. I didn’t really feel pressure my last two starts. I just felt like I was in a flow state the whole time.”
The Giants looked prime for a big first inning after Rafael Devers stepped up to the plate with runners on the corners and sent a deep drive to right-center field. But Devers ended up being robbed of a homer by Padres right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr., who made a perfectly timed leaping grab at the wall to force the Giants to settle for a sacrifice fly.
While Devers just missed a chance to go yard, rookie catcher Daniel Susac left no doubt in the top of the second, when he launched a towering, two-run shot to extend the Giants’ lead to 3-0. Susac crushed a first-pitch fastball from San Diego left-hander JP Sears a Statcast-projected 406 feet out to left field, giving him three homers in his last two games.
Susac later gave the Giants an insurance run with a sacrifice fly off right-hander Randy Vásquez in the top of the fifth.