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4 fantasy baseball waiver wire replacements for Mariners SP Robbie Ray

By Brad Berreman

Mar 31, 2023; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Robbie Ray (38) walks to the dugout following the second inning against the Cleveland Guardians at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 31, 2023; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Robbie Ray (38) walks to the dugout following the second inning against the Cleveland Guardians at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports /
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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.

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%

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