Logan Webb eats innings and performs at an All-Star level. Kyle Harrison is the burgeoning young star looking for more consistency. Justin Verlander is the three-time Cy Young winner trying to reclaim his form.
But Verlander isn’t the only Cy Young winner looking for a return to form as the San Francisco Giants continue spring training.
Robbie Ray is trying to get back to the form he flashed he won the 2021 Cy Young award with the Toronto Blue Jays. Like many other pitchers, it’s been a long road to position himself to reclaim that form.
In 2021 the left-hander was on top of the world. He won the Cy Young with a 13-7 record and an American League-leading 2.84 ERA. He also led the AL with 32 starts, 193.1 innings pitched and 248 strikeouts (which also led the Majors). He also had an AL-leading 6.9 bWAR. He not only won the Cy Young he finished 15th in AL MVP voting.
The timing was perfect. After the season he was a free agent and signed a five-year, $115 million deal with the Seattle Mariners, with opt-outs after three years and a no-trade clause.
He proved durable in 2022, as he went 12-12 with a 3.71 ERA in 32 starts, with 212 strikeouts in 189 innings. The Mariners ended the longest major professional sports postseason drought in North America by making the playoffs, won their AL Wild Card series but lost to AL West rival Houston in the AL Division Series.
Everything went south after that. He started one game for Seattle in 2023 and suffered an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery. That offseason, the Mariners traded him to San Francisco and the Giants knew he would need at least half of the 2024 season to finish his recovery.
Ray completed rehab, got in some starts in the minor leagues and returned to the Majors on July 24. He made seven starts, going 3-2 with a 4.70 ERA with 43 strikeouts and 15 walks before a hip injury ended his season.
The 33-year-old said to the San Francisco Chronicle that for the first time since before the injury his arm wasn’t sore. To some degree, it was a little jarring as he returned to the mound.
“Getting the arm slot again, those things you don’t really think about when you’re healthy on a day-to-day basis, but after 18 months post-surgery and trying to find your arm slot again, you realize you’ve never taken that much time off from throwing. Ever,” he said.
Ray is expected to take over a spot in the rotation. He has two years left on his contract. The Giants are hoping to get their money’s worth.
