Coming into the season, Robbie Ray might have been the biggest variable in the Blue Jays' rotation. Things have changed.
Ray led baseball in walks last season, and it wasn’t particularly close. Soon after the Blue Jays laid out “strike-throwing” as one of their top priorities for the winter, they brought him back on a one-year deal. The messages didn’t exactly add up. What Ray has done since, though, is exceptional, fully recapturing his peak form from earlier in his career while emerging as one of the more consistent pitchers in the American League.
“The moment we signed him, I know how excited Pete Walker and I were when we found out,” said manager Charlie Montoyo. “We knew he could do something like this, because that’s a pretty good arm. All he had to do is find the strike zone and he’ll get people out. That’s what he’s done. He’s been like another ace. When he takes the mound, we have a really good chance to win and to be in the game.”
Wednesday’s 3-1 win over the Marlins at loanDepot park was another classic 2021 outing from Ray. He gave the Blue Jays six innings of one-run ball with six strikeouts, and once again, walked just one batter. It was almost a carbon copy of his win over the Marlins to open June back at Sahlen Field in Buffalo.
“I felt like I was able to keep them off balance,” Ray explained. “I was moving my fastball to both sides of the plate. I felt like, arm-side, that’s the best it’s been all year with my arm-side fastball. I was able to drive that pitch down and away to some righties whereas the game plan a lot of the time is attacking guys in. With some of these guys, I was able to get early outs away with the fastball, so I was pretty happy about that.”
At this point, Ray is the club’s most dependable starter behind ace Hyun Jin Ryu, and for now, he’s the No. 2 starter on the staff. It’s never been a secret that Ray is capable of this, but sustaining it has been an issue. How he carries this forward is key, too, given how the Blue Jays’ rotation depth is being tested right now.
No. 1 prospect Nate Pearson is back on the IL in Triple-A with a right groin strain, an injury that also plagued him back in Spring Training, while Steven Matz is still on the COVID-19 IL and scheduled to throw a bullpen session on Thursday. Eventually, this rotation needs more upside towards the front, but Ray has been the answer early and is already making a fine free-agent case for this offseason, when he’ll just be turning 30.
“It’s been my routine,” Ray said, “staying consistent with my workouts and knowing when I need to take a day. Pitching every five days, I feel like it’s the best thing for me. I asked to not have the extra day and be pushed back because I feel like having that five-day routine for me is pretty crucial. It’s about sticking with my routine and rolling with it.”
The Blue Jays got another encouraging sign on the pitching side Wednesday when Tyler Chatwood turned in his second scoreless appearance in as many nights. Back in late May and early June, the right-hander lost control of the zone and couldn’t seem to find it, but he’s rebounded admirably and has not allowed a hit in his last 6 2/3 innings.
The Blue Jays jumped out to an early lead on a Teoscar Hernández RBI double and a George Springer RBI groundout in the first. Bo Bichette brought home another run on a single in the fifth, and though the lineup didn’t pile on against the Marlins, it’s already easy to see how daunting the top of this order will be for opposing pitchers. Hernández finds himself in a particularly enviable spot, too, hitting between Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Springer.
"It feels great,” Hernández said. “They have to throw to you and pitch to you. There’s no pitching around you or trying to walk you."
The win gave the Blue Jays their first four-game winning streak of the season, and while these past few weeks have shown some true lows for the club, nights like this offer a brief glimpse of what “normal” should look like when the team is playing consistently. Ray has given the Blue Jays a shot at a win nearly every time he’s pitched, and with this lineup, that’s a good recipe.