4 fantasy baseball waiver wire replacements for Mariners SP Robbie Ray

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Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Robbie Ray is on the IL with a flexor strain. With a multi-week absence coming, here are four options to replace him off the waiver wire in your fantasy baseball league.

Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Robbie Ray had a fairly rough season debut Friday night against the Cleveland Guardians, as he allowed five runs (three earned) with five walks over 3.1 innings. Early season kinks and his career-long occasional command issues aside, it was worth wondering if there was something wrong.

Alas, Ray went on the 15-day IL with a flexor strain in his throwing arm on Saturday. It has been deemed a Grade 1 strain, via MLB.com’s Daniel Kramer, and Ray will be shut down for two weeks. The team expects him to be out 4-6 weeks.

So fantasy baseball managers who drafted Ray (raising my hand) are now faced with replacing him. Ray should just be put on fantasy benches, or ideally placed in an IL spot in leagues that have them, unless news on his injury gets way worse.

Using ESPN and Yahoo! leagues as the guide for qualification, here are four fantasy baseball waiver wire options to replace Ray.

4 fantasy waiver wire options to replace Mariners SP Robbie Ray

4. Chris Flexen, Seattle Mariners

Flexen finished the game Ray failed to go deep in against Cleveland, going four innings and pitching pretty well (one run on four hits, three walks, one strikeout). He threw 66 pitches, so he is Seattle’s internal candidate to seamlessly step into Ray’s rotation spot.

Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times reported Flexen is indeed scheduled to start on Wednesday against the Angels.

FYI pic.twitter.com/VT28tTx8iZ
— Ryan Divish (@RyanDivish) April 2, 2023

Flexen started 53 games for the Mariners over the 2021 and 2022 seasons, with sub-4.00 ERAs in both campaigns. 2021 was the better of the two, with a 3.61 ERA over 31 starts (179.2 innings). His strikeout rate is subpar (6.2 K/9, 16.1 percent strikeout rate in 2022), mixed with ok control (3.3 BB/9 last year) to create doubt about that sustaining that sub-4.00 ERA (4.49 FIP last year).

Flexen is more of an AL-only league add, but he’s worth a look in deeper mixed leagues. He has relief pitcher eligibility on both ESPN and Yahoo! as well.

Yahoo! Ownership: 2%
ESPN Ownership: 1.3%

Mandatory Credit: Dave Nelson-USA TODAY Sports /

3. Jameson Taillon, Chicago Cubs

Taillon is making his 2023 season debut Sunday against the Milwaukee Brewers as of this writing, with three runs allowed on seven hits over four full innings. He had a solid spring after signing a nice free agent deal with the Cubs (3.93 ERA, 23 strikeouts, zero walks over 18.1 innings).

Last season with the Yankees, Taillon appeared to be all the way back from the elbow injury and eventual Tommy John surgery that cost him most of 2019 and the entire 2020 season. Over 32 starts (177.1 innings) he had a 3.91 ERA (backed credibly by a 3.94 FIP) with a strikeout peripherals (7.7 K/9, 20.7 percent strikeout rate) and a sub-2.0 BB/9 (1.6). His 14 wins were helped by getting over 5.5 runs of support, and it’s fair to say that won’t be happening like that with the Cubs.

That said, Taillon is line to eat a solid amount of innings with helpful ratios. That makes him a solid asset in mixed leagues.

Yahoo! Ownership: 70%
ESPN Ownership: 43%

2. Zach Eflin, Tampa Bay Rays

Eflin made his 2023 debut on Saturday, holding the Detroit Tigers to one run on three hits over five innings with five strikeouts, one walk and a mark in the win column. His next start, Friday April 7, is also a favorable matchup against Oakland.

A recurring knee issue the last couple seasons prevented Eflin from putting together a strong full season during his time with the Phillies. But he did show improved control the last two seasons, dropping his BB/9 below 1.9 each season with walk rates of 3.6 (2021) and 4.8 percent (2022).

The Rays are sure to lean into analytics to limit their starters’ exposure to opposing lineups more than twice or so, and that past knee issue is a thing to just be aware of for Eflin. But he is an absolute asset for mixed leagues, and he was underdrafted.

Full disclosure: I added Eflin in the 10-team mixed league I have Robbie Ray in.

Yahoo! Ownership: 37%
ESPN Ownership: 17.4%

Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports /

1. Michael Kopech, Chicago White Sox

For whatever it’s worth within the bigger picture of replacing Ray, Kopech is a two-start pitcher this coming week with a pair of favorable-looking matchups (Monday against Giants and Saturday against Pirates).

Kopech had solid surface numbers last season, with a 3.54 ERA and 1.19 WHIP over 25 starts (119.1 innings). But his 4.49 FIP and 21.3 percent strikeout rate were less nice. He has been a strikeout pitcher his whole career (13.4 K/9 largely out of the bullpen in 2021), so last season’s numbers were odd. He lost velocity on his fastball and break on his slider last year, leading to why he wasn’t as dominant.

Adding Kopech is a bet on his latent potential fostering better results in a second full run as a starter. His raw stuff makes it fun to watch him pitch.

Yahoo! Ownership: 29%
ESPN Ownership: 29.3%

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