SAN FRANCISCO — Robbie Ray remembers when the whole lot clicked.
It was April 26, 2025 — 724 days since Ray underwent two surgical procedures that, in impact, robbed him of two seasons. The primary three innings of Ray’s afternoon had been high-quality however unspectacular, giving up a sacrifice fly within the first and one other within the third. The fourth inning was totally different.
Ray started the body with a strikeout, then induced a groundout and a fly out. Ray’s pleasure didn’t lie within the outcomes. As Ray walked again to Oracle Park’s third-base dugout, he realized his timing was again. He felt synced up.
He was lastly again.
“Something clicked with my delivery,” Ray stated. “I can’t necessarily put my finger on it. It was like that feeling where you haven’t ridden a bike in a long time, and then all of a sudden, you get on it. You don’t forget that feeling. That’s kind of what I was feeling in that fourth inning. I was like, ‘Oh, this is it.’”
Ray turned in his finest outing as a Large: seven innings, two runs, eight strikeouts. It was an outing that kicked off a two-and-a-half-month stretch of excellence — a stretch that has landed him a spot on the Nationwide League All-Stars alongside Logan Webb and Randy Rodríguez. Ray received’t pitch within the All-Star Recreation since he’s beginning on Sunday towards the Los Angeles Dodgers, however the choice itself is loads rewarding.
“It’s definitely been a journey,” Ray stated, “and it’s nice to see it pay off.”
For Ray, this journey started on Might 3, 2023.
Ray skilled left forearm discomfort throughout his first begin of the 2023 season with the Seattle Mariners. The Mariners positioned him on the injured listing the next day, and following a setback in his rehab, Ray opted for season-ending surgical procedure to restore his flexor tendon in late April.
Additional testing revealed Ray’s ulnar collateral ligament additionally wanted restore. He’d want the dreaded Tommy John surgical procedure. If Ray solely wanted to rehab his flexor tendon, he may’ve been again for the beginning of the 2024 season. Tommy John surgical procedure ensured he’d be out for many of — if not all of — the primary half. On Might 3, 2023, Dr. Keith Meister carried out the 2 procedures.
Ray, who was then within the second yr of a five-year, $115 million contract, spent a superb chunk of the rehab course of on the Mariners’ Spring Coaching facility in Peoria, Ariz. In Ray’s absence, Seattle’s rotation advanced into one in all baseball’s finest, that includes Luis Castillo, Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Bryan Woo and Bryce Miller. Ray would by no means rejoin that group.
On Jan. 5, 2024, the Giants traded for Ray in alternate for outfielder Mitch Haniger, right-hander Anthony DeSclafani and money issues. San Francisco understood Ray would miss a lot of the season. The staff additionally knew that Ray wouldn’t immediately regain his Cy Younger kind when he did return. However former president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi noticed the potential.
“I think for us, Robbie and the long-term vision of him being a tandem at the top of our rotation with Logan Webb was the No. 1 motivation but some of the flexibility it creates for opportunities internally and a little bit more maneuverability in terms of other free agent moves or trade acquisitions we’re looking at is certainly part of it,” Zaidi stated on the time of the commerce.
The important thing adjective: long-term.
Ray resumed his restoration with the Giants following the commerce, not making the primary of 10 rehab appearances till June 4, 2024. On July 24, 2024 — 448 days since his final begin within the majors — Ray returned to a major-league mound, his activity being the Dodgers in Los Angeles.
The rust was obvious when he walked in a runner with the bases loaded within the first inning. However the stuff was obvious when he threw 5 no-hit innings with eight strikeouts towards a staff that will go on to win the World Sequence.
In addition to Ray pitched towards the Dodgers, his return was outlined by inconsistency. His third and fourth begins had been prime examples.
On Aug. 9 towards the Detroit Tigers, he pitched six innings of two-run ball, his first high quality begin since surgical procedure. On Aug. 14 towards the Atlanta Braves, he recorded two outs, walked three and allowed 5 runs, unable to complete the primary inning. Over seven begins, Ray posted a 4.70 ERA.
Ray was again. However he wasn’t again.
“It just seemed like I felt really good, but it just wasn’t adding up,” Ray stated. “I’d throw in bullpens and it was great. Then, I’d go out in the game and it was like I completely lost it.”
“In hindsight, with the trade for Robbie, with the salary, with our underperformance on the pitching end at times last year, I think a lot of the narrative around Robbie coming back was that he’d be this savior for the pitching staff, right? It was like, ‘As soon as we get Ray and (Alex) Cobb back, we’ll really start to roll,’ ” stated pitching coach J.P. Martinez. “Looking back, I don’t think that was totally fair to him, to put so much pressure on him.”
Justin Verlander, who underwent Tommy John surgical procedure in 2020 and missed all of 2021, is aware of firsthand the problem of heading off doubt.
“You just have to fight it,” Verlander stated. “You have to trust the process. In my case, the rehab was going really well and there would be some small things that would creep up. You just got to remind yourself, ‘This is normal and not every day is going to be a great day.’ The only thing that really puts your mind at ease is performing — going out there and trusting it and letting it happen. Then, once that happens, you forget about it.”
One of the crucial influential figures in Ray’s restoration was Webb, who underwent Tommy John in 2016. Webb returned in 2017, lacking solely just a little greater than a yr following his surgical procedure, but it surely wasn’t till about 25 months following the surgical procedure that Webb threw 5 innings in a single sport. Regardless of being 5 years Ray’s junior, Webb helped the left-hander perceive the peaks and valleys of the restoration course of.
“Thankfully I had Webby here to talk me through that process of coming back from surgery and understanding there’s going to be days where you don’t necessarily have it,” Ray stated. “You might feel great, but your body’s still trying to figure it out. He was a key piece in helping me to realize that.”
In his conversations with Webb and others, Ray discovered that it’s not till 18-to-20 months post-surgery that pitchers began feeling like themselves once more. Throughout spring coaching — roughly 21 months after present process surgical procedure — Ray hit that candy spot.
The outcomes throughout Cactus League play had been distinctive. Over 5 begins, Ray had a 1.86 ERA with 23 strikeouts to at least one stroll. Alongside together with his ordinary repertoire of four-seam fastball, curveball and slider, Ray reintroduced a pitch to his arsenal that had been dormant for years: a changeup.
Ray commonly threw a changeup as a rookie in 2014 however the pitch pale from his repertoire by 2017. He sprinkled in a pair changeups through the years, however the pitch wasn’t a distinguished a part of his combine. However on the conclusion of the ‘24 postseason, Ray texted Tarik Skubal, the 2024 American League Cy Younger Award winner, about how he threw his changeup. Skubal, in return, despatched Ray “the kitchen sink.”
“I think it’s allowed me to get deeper into games,” Ray stated, “not just necessarily going for the strikeout every single time, but getting early outs and being able to go deep.”
Added Martinez: “Just having something to keep those hitters honest — moving the other direction and pulling the string on them — has done wonders for him.”
Getting into Sunday, Ray is 9-3 with a 2.63 ERA and has totaled 122 strikeouts over 113 innings. The Giants are 15-4 on days that Ray begins, which incorporates staff wins in his first 9 begins of the yr. Earlier this month, Ray threw the second full sport of his profession towards the Arizona Diamondbacks. Ray’s accidents robbed him of two prime seasons, however in his first absolutely wholesome yr again, he’s proving he’s nonetheless a top-of-the-rotation arm.
“The impressive thing about what he has done up to this point is it’s almost like you have to start your career over again,” stated supervisor Bob Melvin. “You never really know. You go through rehab. It’s a lonely time, but he took it seriously. … Credit to him for hard work and going through what was a tough rehab period.”
