Top pitchers 25 years of age or younger in MLB

No. 5: Robbie Ray

If this list was being written even three weeks ago, Ray might have been a highlight of the honorable mentions category but not quite in the top five. However, in the past three starts, Ray has gone 23.2 shutout innings, striking out 25 batters and allowing just 11 base runners. The most recent start was a four-hitter, his first career shutout, and he’s pitching as well as he has in his entire career. Ray has always flashed this sort of potential, which only makes these recent results all the more exciting. He was a breakout pick for many baseball fans in 2017, as his FIP and xFIP had always been far superior to his ERA, and those tend to meet eventually in a pitcher’s career.

As Joe Posnanski recently pointed out, Ray seems to finally have found a third pitch and that has been the key to his recent run of success. Skeptics might point to the fact that all three successful starts have come on the road and Ray hasn’t yet proven he can pitch well in the hitter-friendly Chase Field. To that, I would point out that the humidor should be arriving at Chase Field within the next month, and it will supposedly be a large boon for pitchers. If Ray can start pitching at home like he has pitched on the road (0.64 road ERA in 2017), he’ll be flying even further up this list by the end of the season.