Meet The New Guys: Robbie Ray

Robbie Ray (age 28) was acquired by the Blue Jays the day of the trade deadline in exchange for 26 year old Travis Bergen, a left handed reliever. Ray is a left handed starter who will likely start his tenure with the team as a reliever, while possibly being converted back into a starting role later in the season. Ray has had a very strong career up until the 2020 season, even being named an all-star as recently as 2017, but 2020 has been quite an outlier for him. The rough start made him easy for the Jays to acquire, and if they can figure out the problem and turn him around, he could become one of the biggest deadline steals in years.

In the 2020 season prior to joining Toronto, Ray owned a 7.84 ERA while leading the league in total walks (averaged a walk per inning). His stats are undoubtedly horrible, but he credits that to mechanical changes made over the offseason. He was looking for a change to his delivery that would be more athletic, allowing him to be more consistent, and have more room to grow. These changes clearly backfired for Ray, who will now try to rediscover his ways of the past as a member of the Blue Jays.

Ray was once a highly desired trade target by many (including Toronto), as he was the ace of the Diamondbacks staff for years. However, in a terrible year for Arizona where Ray would have an expiring contract, they would finally unload, despite the lowest trade value of his career. It remains unclear whether or not the Jays consider Ray to be a long term option via contract extension, but the rest of the year will be critical for Ray in order to remain with a major league team.

Considering the low price paid, many were surprised to see Ray depart Arizona. He could be a pivotal piece of the Blue Jays in the stretch, whether it is in a bullpen role, or as a member of the rotation. If his debut as a Blue Jay meant anything (1 ER, 4 Ks over 3.1 IP), fans will be thrilled with the team’s newest addition.