Arizona Diamondbacks: Robbie Ray’s return results in victory
Lefty Robbie Ray of the Arizona Diamondbacks returned to the mound after one month on the disabled list.
There was a time on Thursday that the Robbie Ray of the Arizona Diamondbacks, who faced the New York Mets in Citi Field, was not very different from the All-Star edition. Ray returned to the hill with as solid a performance against New York as he displayed most of this season.
During a period from May 20 to July 18, the lefty from Brentwood, Tenn. went 7-1 with two no-decisions, racked up double-digit strike outs in four of those games and 9 Ks in three others. Locked in and in such a command that Chicago Cubs and NL All-Star game skipper Joe Maddon, put Ray on his squad for the mid-summer classic at Marlins Park.
Then, disaster.
Facing the Cardinals in St. Louis on July 28, Ray was struck in the head by a line drive off the bat of Luke Voit. After immediate placement on the DL, Ray then fell under Major League Baseball’s concussion protocol, and missed the next month.
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When he returned to the mound at Citi Field Thursday and faced the struggling Mets, Ray showed no signs of rust or tarnish. Recording three strikeouts in the opening inning on 11 pitches, Ray’s return to competitive play displayed a strong command of the strike zone, his traditionally crisp fastball and a continued rhythm of his deliveries.
Throughout the season, Ray constantly told reporters the basic reason for his improvement over an 8-15 (4.90 ERA) season of a year ago was his pace. In an attempt to gain greater precision with location, Ray accelerated his delivery and now is ready to get the catcher’s sign almost immediately upon getting the ball back from the previous pitch.
If Ray’s season has been marked with improvement, there remains one nagging consequence. Once he gets ahead of hitters, Ray’s clear and decisive knockout punch seems to be missing. Sure, he’ll blaze a mid-90s fastball by a hitter, but batters tend to prolong their time at-bat with foul balls.
That was one reason for Ray’s elevated pitch count last season, and even with improved numbers this time around, he needs to find ways to put hitters away without prolonging at-bats.
In going five solid innings Thursday against the Mets, Ray allowed only two hits with one being a fourth inning homer from Yoenis Cespedes. In gaining his 10th win of the season, Ray walked two and fanned nine hitters. Though his pitch count seemed elevated at 94, he threw 60 for strikes.
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The outing went smooth, Ray told MLB.com. Not worried about the line drive that placed him on the DL, Ray reinitiated the past was in the past.
“It just felt like another game,” he said of facing the Mets. “Like I’ve said through the whole process, there haven’t been any issues getting back on the mound.”
Going forward, the fire-balling lefty seems on track to regain his importance to the rotation. Combined with the resurgence of Patrick Corbin and the quality season put together from Zack Greinke, the starting pitching appears adequate for the critical stretch run.