Injured Giants Cy Young Winner May Be on Verge of Return to Majors

With Robbie Ray’s latest rehab start he could be in position to join the San Francisco Giants next week.

Mar 31, 2023; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Robbie Ray (38) walks to the dugout during a fourth inning pitching change against the Cleveland Guardians at T-Mobile Park. / Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

Could the Robbie Ray era be ready to start for the San Francisco Giants?

His latest rehab start, on Friday night with the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats, may have set the stage.

The left-hander, who has been recovering from Tommy John surgery for more than a year, had another sharp outing in what was his 10th rehab outing for the organization.

He was sharp against Albuquerque, as he pitched 5.1 innings, gave up no runs and one hit. He struck out seven and walked two.

It was the second straight rehab start in which he allowed just one hit. With Class-A San Jose on Sunday he allowed no runs and struck out nine.

Pitching the Robbie Ray way 💪

The @SFGiants southpaw strikes out seven batters over 5 1/3 scoreless innings in a rehab outing with the @RiverCats. pic.twitter.com/FnM9ddijzh

— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) July 20, 2024

In 10 games, nine of which have been starts, Ray is 2-1 with a 3.38 ERA. He has thrown 29.1 innings and allowed 11 earned runs. He has struck out 45 and walked six while batters have hit .181 against him.

Before the start, the Giants told MLB.com that if all went well with Ray’s start on Friday that he could join the team for series with the Los Angeles Dodgers, which starts on Monday.

Assuming he starts on normal rest, Ray could pitch as early as Wednesday, barring a setback.

Ray may not be ready to go seven innings, but he has pitched five innings in each of his last two outings.

He has spent more than a year recovering from Tommy John surgery for the torn flexor tendon in his left elbow, which he suffered early last season with the Seattle Mariners.

In spite of that, the Giants traded Mitch Haniger, Anthony DeSclafani and cash considerations to the Mariners to acquire Ray in the offseason, knowing that he would not be ready until the second half of the season.

San Francisco hopes that it will get something resembling the pitcher he was in 2021 with Toronto, when he went 13-7 with an American League-leading 2.84 ERA in 32 starts. He struck out an MLB-high 248 and walked 52 in 193.1 innings as he won the AL Cy Young award.

He followed that with a 12-12 2022 with Seattle, who signed him to a five-year, $115 million deal in free agency. The Giants inherited that deal, but it comes with an opt-out after this season.

Ray was a 12th round pick of the Washington Nationals in 2010 and broke in with Detroit in 2014. In 10 MLB seasons, including a stint with Arizona, he is 74-71 with a 3.96 ERA.