Arizona Diamondbacks: Robbie Ray looked anything but opening day starter

Lefty Robbie Ray of the Arizona Diamondbacks displayed a wildness and lack of control in his latest mound effort.

One day after declaring Zack Greinke out as the opening day pitcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks, manager Torey Lovullo hesitated to move closer to this important decision. While most believe lefty Robbie Ray is on target to open the season next Thursday night, there were a few red flags prevalent on Tuesday which Ray wants to address.

If Lovullo is leaning toward Ray to open the season, the native of Brentwood, Tenn. showed anything but a readiness. In his latest start Tuesday against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Ray displayed little semblance to the power and control exhibited last season. Afterward, Ray told Call to the Pen that the marginal outing at best was just an aberration but would not identify the issue.

“After that first inning, my command was just off and I just walked guys,” he said. “It’s an easy fix. It’s a small thing and I was getting stuck in the delivery a little bit.”

One physical dimension of Ray’s outing was the way the ball sailed out of his hand and traveled out of control to the plate. That was attributed to the abnormality in his delivery, Ray told Call to the Pen, but would go no further.

"“(The ball was sailing) because I was kind of getting stuck in my delivery,” he said. “I need to get on top of it and get on top of everything. It’s a simple thing.”"

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After Ian Kinsler flied to right on Ray’s first delivery of the game, things went south quickly. Mike Trout followed and Ray encountered an eight-pitch at-bat before Trout walked. Subsequently, Ray settled down and fanned both Justin Upton and Zack Cozart to end the inning.

Then, the flood gates.

In the second, Ray labored through a 32-pitch inning and issued three walks in the frame. In the third, Ray walked Upton to open the inning and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Kole Calhoun. After retiring Calhoun, Ray reached 65 pitches and 35 hit the strike zone. That was enough for Lovullo, who pulled Ray with one out in the third.

Despite a high pitch count and five walks to a total of 14 hitters, Ray told Call to the Pen he has one more start  in spring games to right his ship.

"“This was not disappointing at all,” he said. “It’s spring training and obviously I need to work on something. But, it’s an easy fix and after this, everything resets back to zero. So, not really worried about it.”"

From Lovullo’s perspective, there, too, is little concern. After Ray’s outing Tuesday, Lovullo told Call to the Pen that the ability to decipher any malady represented one of Ray’s strengths.

"“(Robbie) is very good at analyzing the situation,” he said. “He had a tough outing against the Dodgers (in early March) and responded well. In the next start after that, he came out strong.”"

Tough day for the NL West

On the same night in which the Dodgers’ Justin Turner sustained a fractured wrist, Arizona outfielder Rey Fuentes could have suffered a similar, debilitating injury.

Hit on the right hand by White Sox right-hander Hector Santiago leading off the sixth inning in a game Monday, Fuentes suffered a bruise with swelling. The x-rays were negative and Lovullo indicated before the Angels’ game Tuesday that Fuentes would be sidelined for the next few days.

In the case of Turner, the L. A. third baseman sustained a non-displaced fracture in his right wrist. The injury is expected to sideline Turner for several weeks.

Roster moves …

Before Tuesday’s game with the Angels in Tempe, the Diamondbacks reduced their roster by six players.

Optioned to Triple A-Reno were outfielder Jeremy Hazelbaker, pitcher Jimmie Sherfy and first baseman/outfielder Christian Walker. Reassigned to the minor league camp was catcher Anthony Recker and pitcher Naftali Feliz. Pitcher Antonio Bastardo was released.

That leaves 35 players remaining in the major league camp. The Diamondbacks must be down to 25 players by next Thursday, opening day.

In the spotlight …

The Angels heralded off-season signing, pitcher-outfielder Shohei Ohtani was in the line-up against the Diamondbacks Tuesday and entered the game with an 0-1 record and 27.00 ERA. He had surrendered nine hits and nine runs, eight earned, in two previous mound appearances, both starts.

On Tuesday, Ohtani appeared as the Angels’ DH and hit eighth against starter Robbie Ray. In four plate appearances, Ohtani grounded to second three times and singled to right. In 12 spring games, Ohtani is now 3-for-25 at the plate, no extra-base hits and one RBI. He is hitting .107 in spring games.

Next …

On Wednesday, the Diamondbacks continue to wind down their spring slate with a night game against the San Francisco Giants at Salt River.

Zack Greinke, battling a groin injury, is scheduled to throw on a Salt River back field during the afternoon. In the night game, Lovullo taped right-hander Matt Koch to start.

Regarding Greinke’s start, Lovullo told Call to the Pen the groin injury influenced Greinke’s venue.

"“Originally, Zack told us he wanted to pitch against the Giants,” Lovullo said. “To be honest with you, the groin injury pushed him to the back field because we want to keep Zack in a controlled environment. His health is our most important concern.”"

Next: Diamondbacks 2018 season preview

The Giants’ game follows back-to-back night encounters at Salt River. On Thursday, they engage the Chicago White Sox. For Friday, the Diamondbacks play their third consecutive night game, and this one is against the Cleveland Indians in Goodyear.