TORONTO — The realities of hitting a pandemic-impacted market after a down season caused by a mechanical adjustment gone wrong dawned quickly on Robbie Ray, who didn’t need much persuasion to re-sign with the Toronto Blue Jays.
“I was in a position to where I felt like a one-year deal was something that was going to be necessary for me to kind of boost my value going into the next free agency,” the left-hander, who agreed to an $8-million, one-year deal Saturday, said during a Zoom call with media Tuesday. “It just so happened there was a fit with Toronto and it was mutual interest in both of us getting something together before free agency really started hitting the ground.”
Success for both sides on this equation hinges directly on whether the 29-year-old can lock down the mechanics that helped him generate 12.2 wins above replacement from 2015 through ’19 with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Command issues and their inevitable by-product, walks, dogged him throughout that period, spiking up to 5.1 per nine innings in 2018 and a still-high 4.3 in 2019. That’s why last winter, he decided to follow a wider trend in the game and make a substantial change to his windup.
Pitchers who, like Ray, dropped their arms down the backside at the start of their delivery were shortening up their arm action and finding success. The theory was that rather than coming up from the thigh, the arm comes up from the waist, creating a more efficient and repeatable motion.
For example, check out Ray’s arm action in this Sept. 4, 2018 start against San Diego.
Now, compare that against this from July 30 against the Dodgers.
“There are guys that have had success with it and I felt like going into spring training, I made those choices, I made those decisions to do that, and I had success,” Ray said of making the adjustment. “Then in spring 2.0, I had even more success, so I felt like it was going to be a good thing for me. Then we get into the season and it seemed like all the wheels fell off.”
Rather than improving his command, it got worse, as he walked 31 batters in 31 innings over seven starts with the Diamondbacks, while allowing 31 hits, nine of them homers. His ERA of 7.84 wasn’t a blip, as it was supported by a FIP of 7.29. Still, the strikeouts were still there and the Blue Jays rolled the dice by acquiring him at the deadline for lefty reliver Travis Bergen, believing that a return to his original motion would help Ray find level ground.
To a degree, that’s what happened, as he cut down his walks to 14 over 20.2 frames in five outings with the Blue Jays, allowing 11 runs on 22 hits with 25 strikeouts.
During his post-season outing versus the Rays, his delivery was back to normal.
“(The change) was something that I felt would give me a little more consistency. Hindsight is 20/20. It didn’t really,” said Ray. “When I got to Toronto, I got back to where I was beforehand. Results were mixed but for the most part, I felt like I was more comfortable with my previous delivery. I felt like I was able to throw more strikes, get ahead of guys. So that’s where I’m at right now. I’m back to kind of where my old delivery was at and just really focusing on fine-tuning that instead of trying to make a massive overhaul.”
Important, Ray said, was that the Blue Jays didn’t data-dump him when he arrived, pushing a plan on him to try to get him right.
“I didn’t have everybody talking in my ear, giving me a little tidbit here, a little tidbit there,” he explained. “It was just, ‘Hey, go out and pitch, go out and put up zeros.’ They kind of allowed me to get out of my own way. That was huge for me.”
Along the way, a strong bond developed with pitching coach Pete Walker, who turned up the informational spigot at Ray’s pace the more they got to know one another. There were small tweaks along the way, and while regaining past form is the priority, there’s no complacency in that regard, as being in the zone more often remains a priority.
“Well, definitely walking guys isn’t a good thing, so I’m not happy with it. That’s not something I’m trying to do,” said Ray. “The biggest thing is the fastball command. That’s the biggest thing that gets me in trouble. When my fastball command is off, I’m not able to use my breaking ball to effectively get guys out. So for me, it’s getting that fastball in control, finding whatever it is in my delivery to have that consistency, to have that fastball command and then the other pitches, they’re going to be fine. They are what they are, they’re strikeout pitches, curveball and slider. But all the focus is on that fastball command.”
For good reason, as Ray’s never thrown fewer strikes with his heater than last year.
“It was tough because it was a shortened season and I wasn’t able to ride out (the mechanical changes) and actually see if I can make it through 30 starts,” said Ray. “Going back to my old delivery was something that I knew that I could at least feel comfortable with…
“It kind of came back almost instantly, really. I would say maybe within one or two outings, I felt like I was back to normal.”
His slider (30.5 per cent usage) and curveball (15.8 per cent usage) remained weapons, each with a 47.1 per cent whiff rate, underlining the importance of being more effective with his fastball.
If he’s able to get there, the Blue Jays will get a nifty profit on their one-year investment and Ray will be able to leverage his rebound into a more plentiful contract when he returns to the market next fall.
[relatedlinks]
COMMENTS
When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.