It seems like there has always been one story bigger than Robbie Ray this season.
Most weeks, it’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr. adding new chapters to his MVP candidacy. In May, it was Marcus Semien building his case for Player of the Month. Other times, it has been the Blue Jays’ avalanche of injuries or their bullpen woes. Ray is always right there, though, a few feet out of the spotlight, putting together one of the most important seasons on this entire roster.
Sunday’s 5-1 loss to Tampa Bay at Sahlen Field in Buffalo, N.Y., was another example of Ray at or near his best, but it was wasted. Ray allowed two runs over seven innings, but it should have been only one after a defensive misplay by Teoscar Hernández allowed the second run to score in the sixth. Ray rose to the right moments earlier in the game, too, particularly in the second inning when a walk and a double left runners on second and third with no outs. Ray’s response? Strikeout, strikeout, strikeout.
The one story that overshadowed Ray this time around was the Blue Jays’ regression back into poor fundamentals, with some errors and breakdowns making this one uglier than it should have been. They’ll need to address that, but they are still taking this series win as a positive as they try to climb the American League East standings one step at a time.
“It’s huge. If you win every series during the year, then you’ll be in a good position come the end of the year,” Ray said. “I think that’s our main focus going into the series, just win the series. That’s what we talk about in our pitchers’ meeting, and I’m sure the hitters talk about it as well. Just win the series. If you can win every series, you’re going to be in a good position.”
Ray’s improved control this season is, frankly, difficult to comprehend. Last season, Ray’s 45 walks led all of baseball by a wide margin, giving him a rate of 7.8 walks per nine innings. No matter how good Ray’s stuff is, that will never work in the big leagues. It would have been considered a success if Ray had even reverted back closer to his career norms -- something in the range of 4.0 walks per nine innings -- but he has done something much better.
It’s not a perfect approach, of course. By stubbornly living in the strike zone, Ray has allowed 20 home runs this season, including the solo shot to Wander Franco on Sunday. He’s near the top of the league in that category now and will likely finish the season there, but without all of those walks in between, these home runs do less damage to Ray.
“The homers are kind of baffling,” Ray said. “That one today, I didn’t really think that it had a chance, but it happens, it’s baseball. That would be the No. 1 thing, limiting hard contact. I think I do a good job of getting ahead of guys, and maybe I could be just a little more fine putting guys away.”
In the big picture, this has filled one of the Blue Jays’ biggest needs entering the season, which was for a No. 2 starter. Hyun Jin Ryu is the ace, but beyond Ryu, the group of Ray, Steven Matz, Nate Pearson and Ross Stripling provided more depth than No. 2 upside. Matz has profiled as more of a back-end starter, and Pearson is once again on the injured list, so while Stripling’s turnaround has been impressive and Alek Manoah’s MLB debut has been a welcome surprise, Ray’s consistency has been invaluable.
“He’s one of our best pitchers for sure. My trust is there, it doesn’t matter how many pitches he’s at,” said manager Charlie Montoyo. “For some reason, the longer he’s in the outing and the looser he gets, he starts throwing harder and better. I’m very confident sending him back like I did today, because I know he’s done the job every time I do that. He’s earned my trust.”
Now, it’s about sustaining this level. Coming into play Sunday, Ray owned a career 3.77 ERA in the first half and a 4.41 ERA in the second. Those numbers might not mean anything, though, given the unique nature of 2021 as pitchers stretch back out from a 60-game season to 162. Ray’s velocity certainly isn’t showing any signs of slowing down, with his fastball sitting at 95.3 mph this season, according to Statcast. That’s comfortably above his averages of 93.9 mph in ‘20 and 92.4 mph in ‘19. For now, at least, all indicators point toward Ray’s roll continuing.
Keegan Matheson covers the Blue Jays for MLB.com.