Ray attacks strike zone in promising debut

Robbie Ray's debut was the perfect complement to the Blue Jays’ nontraditional pitching strategy on Tuesday despite the eventual 3-2 loss to the Marlins at Marlins Park.

Following two innings from Julian Merryweather, who worked effectively as the opener, Ray gave the Blue Jays 3 1/3 innings with two runs (one earned) on four hits, striking out four and flashing the tools that made him an All-Star in 2017. More important than any of those numbers, though, was the “one” in the walk column.

• Box score

Coming to the Blue Jays in a trade from the D-backs on Monday, Ray had 31 free passes in 2020, leading the Majors by a comfortable margin. On Tuesday, though, Ray threw 36 of his 48 pitches for strikes and avoided that self-inflicted damage that plagued him in August. Ray’s delivery wasn’t magically fixed on his cross-country flight to join the Blue Jays in Miami, but it’s an encouraging first step from a veteran who undoubtedly has the talent.

“My stuff works way better when I’m getting ahead of guys and attacking with my fastball,” Ray said. “My curveball was really great tonight, too. I feel like that was a very good pitch for me. It’s tough to dive into too much when I just got in and I’m meeting everyone today, but I’m sure we’ll sit down and talk about [what they’ll work on]. For the most part, coming in today was about strike one, get ahead of guys, attack the zone and go from there.”

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That work will continue for Ray, who is now in the hands of pitching coach Pete Walker, or “The Doctor” as manager Charlie Montoyo called him. Montoyo said prior to Tuesday’s opener that Ray would start in the bullpen and make his way back to the rotation, but on the 2020 Blue Jays, those traditional roles don’t matter much. They don’t need to, either, and Montoyo said that it’s a conversation he’ll continue to have with both Walker and Ray going forward.

Yes, there are still traditional starters, led by Hyun Jin Ryu. And in a perfect world, the Blue Jays would be rolling five healthy starters who work deep into every game. This is an imperfect year, though, and they have had success with setups like Tuesday’s, where Merryweather and Ray covered the workload of a “starter” before handing off to the bullpen. The Marlins got to Shun Yamaguchi in the eighth, but the front half of the equation worked well enough.

“It’s different. Running out of the bullpen, I’m not used to that,” Ray said. “I’m used to coming from the dugout, but it almost gives you that little bit of added adrenaline, which is pretty helpful in a season like this where there’s no fans yelling and screaming at you coming in. It may have worked to my advantage tonight. I’ve definitely not done that very often.”

The Blue Jays have been hesitant to push their starters through the opposing lineup a third time, which they’ve weathered by having multi-inning arms behind them. These aren’t classic long men, either, who mop up messes and chew through slow innings. These are arms like Anthony Kay, Thomas Hatch and Ryan Borucki, who are fully capable of pitching high-leverage innings and recording strikeouts at a high rate. These setups could apply to Deadline addition Ross Stripling, too, given his ability to pitch in any number of roles.

Regardless of how Ray and Stripling fit into that puzzle long term, Ray’s usage Tuesday gives Montoyo yet another movable piece. And things could get really interesting with the return of some rehabbing arms.

Ken Giles, Nate Pearson and Jordan Romano are on the injured list, with the closer Giles appearing closest to a return after throwing live BP on Tuesday. He and Romano are invaluable in the back end of that bullpen while Pearson, the club’s top prospect with the golden arm, could give the Blue Jays yet another multi-inning arm if he’s able to return, though he doesn’t have time to build back up to a full workload.