Q&A with D-backs Prospect Dylan Ray at Fall League

Dylan Ray started the Salt River Rafters home opener and spoke with media about his goals for the Arizona Fall League

Arizona Diamondbacks pitching prospect Dylan Ray fist bumps teammates in dugout after Arizona Fall League outing at Salt River Fields Oct 8. 2024 / MLBTW.net Hung-Cheng Li

The Salt River Rafters had a seven-run second inning and tried to tie the game up in the 9th inning but lost to the Scottsdale Scorpions by a score of 9-8 Tuesday evening in Salt River's home opener.

Tommy Troy went 1-5 with a double that was blistered at 106.3 MPH and a strikeout. Termarr Johnson led off the game with a home run and had two hits, but he left the game with leg cramps.

The focus of the game was about how right-handed starting pitcher and No. 15 Diamondbacks prospect Dylan Ray did. He started the game for the Rafters after spending all season in Double-A with the Amarillo Sod Poodles.

Ray started the year injured with a flexor strain in his right forearm but managed to recover by mid-season and avoided any surgery that often follows tightness there. He made his first start in the Arizona Complex League on June 6th.

He pitched 2.2 dominant innings with two hits, one walk, and six strikeouts. From there, he moved to Double-A where he did well.

He didn't pitch more than 3.2 innings in his first five starts. Over those 15.2 innings, he struggled to a 5.74 ERA however, from there, he completely turned his season around.

Over his next 10 starts, Ray excelled in the offensive environment as he pitched 51 innings and had just a 3.88 ERA with 51 strikeouts and 24 walks. He turned his walks around as he started locating his pitches better and showed off his potential.

He pitched five innings or more in eight of his starts and looked closer to the part of a potential mid-rotation starting pitcher that he's projected to be with his cutter and curveball looking good enough to be at least a No.4.

Opponents hit just .245 with a .770 OPS against him over this stretch.

However, his 2024 season pre-Arizona Fall League ended on a sour note as he failed to miss any bats and gave up 11 hits and nine runs over just four innings. He gave up three homers, just under a fifth of what he gave up for the whole season.

With the Rafters Tuesday night, Ray pitched 1.2 innings as it appeared that he had a 40-pitch cap. He gave up three hits, two runs, and a walk.

Ray proved he's healthy with a fastball that went between 92.9 and 95.6 MPH while his changeup was steady between 82.6 and 84.9 MPH. He threw his sinker a lot too with it going between 94-95.4 MPH. All three were typical velocities for him.

Ray induced three whiffs on 17 swings but located his pitches well enough with six called strikes. His pitching was better than the base results, although he did give up a leadoff homer to Temarr Johnson to start the game.

The most important part is that he stayed healthy and his stuff matched what was seen in Double-A aside from the fact that he struggled to miss bats. He did face plenty of top prospects on the opposing team highlighting the caliber of opponent.

Dylan Ray spoke to reporters after the game about his outing saying,

"I felt there was good and bad. Not trying to be too results-oriented but have a process-oriented mind, especially in the Fall League. Just working on a few things. I felt like I commanded the ball pretty well. Made some bad pitches to [Temarr] Johnson, shouldn't have doubled up on the changeup."

On what he is working on at the Fall League, Ray said, "I'm trying to execute better with two strikes. Trying to develop the cutter this Fall League. Executing with two strikes is probably my biggest thing for the Fall League. Felt like I did a pretty good job burying some pitches, just didn't get any swings tonight."

Ray explained further about his two-strike approach, "Different curveballs just below the zone, went slider down and away, and the changeup down the middle, fastball up. We [the organization and him] both agreed that it's something I need to be better at...If I can execute better with two strikes, I think I'll do better moving forward."

Ray talked about his flexor strain and his recovery saying "I've had like four of them before. They're pretty easy to rehab. It just takes a little bit of rest and time so the biggest thing is the buildup process after recovery so after the tendon's healed, the buildup just takes a while to build up as a starter and compete full speed."

Ray spoke about his strong run of starts in the Texas League, "The Texas League is not easy to pitch in but I think it makes us better. You really have to hone in on executing pitches...It was a fun year. I learned a lot about myself. Just got to get better and continue to work."

Ray's high school best friend is playing in the Arizona Fall League for the Red Sox affiliate, the Mesa Solar Sox. That friend is Caden Rose who was drafted in the 7th round in 2023 as an outfielder.

Ray shared his thoughts, "My high school best friend plays for Mesa. He's with the Red Sox. His name is Caden Rose. I'm looking forward to facing him. It'll be cool. He was drafted a year after me in the 7th round by the Red Sox. We both went to Alabama together. Went to high school together and grew up playing together so it'll be cool if we face each other."

The D-backs have another Alabama baseball player in left-handed pitcher Grayson Hitt, a potential top-30 prospect for Arizona. Turns out that Hitt and Ray are quite good friends.

"Grayson Hitt was my college roommate in my two years of college and he was also one of my best friends. So, it was cool that he was drafted by the D-backs so we hang out all the time."

Be sure to catch a game or two of the Salt River Rafters as there's plenty of top D-backs prospects taking part such as Gino Groover, Yu-Min Lin, and others. Dylan Ray will pitch multiple times this season and Lin is scheduled to start Wednesday in Glendale.