Robbie Ray, a well-known baseball pitcher for the Seattle Mariners in Major League Baseball (MLB), is left-handed and was born on October 1, 1991, in Brentwood, Tennessee. He attended Brentwood High School, where he played baseball and basketball before graduating.
In 2010, the Washington Nationals chose him in the 12th round of the “2010 MLB Draft”. He professionally debuted as a baseball player in 2014. He was a fantastic strikeout pitcher and acquired huge fame. He was selected for all 2-star games. Among the league’s best pitchers, he’s one of the best pitchers because of his excellent fastball and slider.
He has struggled at times but has spent most of his career pitching in major leagues. He has also had some very impressive seasons over the years. This article will explore in detail how his career turned around recently and what has happened to him.
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Early Career of Robbie Ray
The Washington Nationals selected Robbie Ray in the twelfth round of the 2010 Major League Baseball draughts. Before he joined the Detroit Tigers in 2013, he had spent a few years in the national league. He had pitched nine games for the Tigers before his Big League debut in 2014. He was displaced after struggling with command and walking 19 batters in just 28 innings.
Until being called up by the Tigers, he played in minor leagues for most of the 2015 season. Later with a 3.52 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 30.2 innings, he showed a little promise.
Robbie Ray’s Changing Pitch
Maybe Ray’s greater reliance on his slider in 2022 resulted from his four-seam fastball losing both velocity and potency. He used the slider about 11% more frequently than he did a year before. During the same period, fastball usage has declined by about 7%.
Generally, Ray’s slider has performed better this season than his four-seamer. Yet, that might or might not mean anything. Since the start of the stat cast era in 2015, opponent xBA against the pitch is at its highest point of any season.
Breakout Season of Robbie Ray
Robbie Ray had a breakout year in 2016. Over his 174.1 innings of play, with an ERA of 2.89, he struck out 218 battlers. Making 32 starts, he improved control in 2016, but his walk rate dropped from 4.3 per nine innings in 2015. Robbie Ray’s success had developed into one of the most effective pitches of that season.
Robbie Ray Injury
Robbie Ray made his season debut on Friday, March 31. Against the guardians, he struggled to maintain his position throughout 3 1/3 innings, and out of the 19 batters he faced, he walked five out. He gave four hits and three strikeouts, earned three runs, and gave up five runs. Later that match, he was charged with the loss as well.
That day, Robbie Ray informed reporters, including MLB, that he initially noticed tightness in his left forearm during Friday’s start but had put it down to cold. Due to a grade 1 strain, he will be sidelined for two weeks. In his break, the Mariners will re-evaluate him while Robbie Ray undergoes daily treatment.
The Cleveland Guardian’s opponent, the Seattle Mariners, revealed that the left-handed pitcher Robbie Ray had a left flexor strain. In 3.1 innings of work, Robbie Ray earned three runs out of 5, which he gave up. He struck out three hitters and walked five in a 9-4 defeat. As a result, Gabe Speier, the left-handed pitcher, was called up from Triple-A Tacoma.
According to the injury database followed by Baseball Prospectus, one of the major injuries is the Flexor strain which has caused pitchers to miss an average of more than two months; nevertheless, most pitchers recover within four weeks.
Additionally, Robbie Ray, in the year 2021, won the CY Young Award and began the second year of the five-year contract with the Mariners. Last year, he had a 3.42 strikeout ratio and a 3.71 ERA(100 ERA+). The 2023 Major League Baseball season is in progress, and standings and pennant races take precedence for its success.
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