by Team Del Genio
Wednesday, Jul 31, 2024While there is a logjam in the National League wildcard race, the San Francisco Giants went into the final day in July only five games behind Arizona San Diego for the third and final wildcard spot. Don’t count manager Bob Melvin’s team out quite yet as they have endured several injuries this season. They may have one of the best starting rotations in baseball for the stretch run in the next two months. Logan Webb is steady and Blake Snell seems to have captured his outstanding form as he usually does midseason. Yet it was the return of Robbie Ray from Tommy John surgery that should have the San Francisco faithful excited.
In his first game pitching for the Giants last Wednesday, the left-hander settled down from a wobbly first inning to give up only one earned run in five innings in Los Angeles against the Dodgers. There were several highly encouraging takeaways from that performance. His command was good as he walked only two batters. The velocity on his four-seam fastball reached 95.2 miler per hour which was his highest mark since July of 2022. All three of his pitches played a part in his 22 whiffs. He got nine whiffs from his four-seamer, another six from his slider, and then seven from his curveball. The velocity on his slider was up three to four miles per hour from 2022, peaking at 90 mph against the Dodgers. He added a wrinkle to his curveball with knuckle-curve variation.
Ray is a former Cy Young award winner. If that effort was his new floor after only pitching once last year before his arm injury, then the sky is the limit for him and the Giants moving forward this season. In his last full season in 2022 for Seattle, Ray had a 12-12 record with a 3.71 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP in 32 starts. Those numbers look even better in hindsight since the baseball was livelier that season. He won the American League Cy Young Award the previous year with a 13-7 record, a 2.84 ERA, and a 1.04 WHIP. He led the league with 248 strikeouts in his 193 1/3 innings.
Pitching so well after his extended absence from facing Major League hitting gave many (including us) that he was poised for another strong effort against the Oakland A’s in his second start of the season on Tuesday. Yet Ray gave up four earned runs in 4 1/3 innings before getting yanked by Melvin. He gave up seven hits and walked three batters. His whiff rate dropped to only eleven. His four-seam fastball was still upstairs, yet it was the decline of his curveball that was most noticeable from his excellent effort against the Dodgers. He only threw six of his fifteen curveballs for strikes.
Did he just have a bad start against the A’s, or was the initial performance against the Dodgers the outlier performance? Certainly, the Giants want to know. So do bettors. It seems like his command of his curveball is key. If that pitch is being thrown for strikes, then hitters cannot sit on his four-seam fastball. If is not hitting the zone, even Oakland can rough him up.
Good luck - TDG.
In his first game pitching for the Giants last Wednesday, the left-hander settled down from a wobbly first inning to give up only one earned run in five innings in Los Angeles against the Dodgers. There were several highly encouraging takeaways from that performance. His command was good as he walked only two batters. The velocity on his four-seam fastball reached 95.2 miler per hour which was his highest mark since July of 2022. All three of his pitches played a part in his 22 whiffs. He got nine whiffs from his four-seamer, another six from his slider, and then seven from his curveball. The velocity on his slider was up three to four miles per hour from 2022, peaking at 90 mph against the Dodgers. He added a wrinkle to his curveball with knuckle-curve variation.
Ray is a former Cy Young award winner. If that effort was his new floor after only pitching once last year before his arm injury, then the sky is the limit for him and the Giants moving forward this season. In his last full season in 2022 for Seattle, Ray had a 12-12 record with a 3.71 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP in 32 starts. Those numbers look even better in hindsight since the baseball was livelier that season. He won the American League Cy Young Award the previous year with a 13-7 record, a 2.84 ERA, and a 1.04 WHIP. He led the league with 248 strikeouts in his 193 1/3 innings.
Pitching so well after his extended absence from facing Major League hitting gave many (including us) that he was poised for another strong effort against the Oakland A’s in his second start of the season on Tuesday. Yet Ray gave up four earned runs in 4 1/3 innings before getting yanked by Melvin. He gave up seven hits and walked three batters. His whiff rate dropped to only eleven. His four-seam fastball was still upstairs, yet it was the decline of his curveball that was most noticeable from his excellent effort against the Dodgers. He only threw six of his fifteen curveballs for strikes.
Did he just have a bad start against the A’s, or was the initial performance against the Dodgers the outlier performance? Certainly, the Giants want to know. So do bettors. It seems like his command of his curveball is key. If that pitch is being thrown for strikes, then hitters cannot sit on his four-seam fastball. If is not hitting the zone, even Oakland can rough him up.
Good luck - TDG.
