Injured San Francisco Giants Starter Perfect In Second Rehab Outing

Robbie Ray made another important step to finally joining the San Francisco Giants rotation later this season.

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

Robbie Ray built upon his last rehab outing for the San Francisco Giants on Saturday, throwing two innings for the Arizona Complex League Giants.

He was perfect in his two-inning stint. He faced the minimum, struck out five and didn’t allow a baserunner.

This came on the heels of his first live pitches on Tuesday with the ACL Giants, where he gave up a hit and struck out three hitters. He left that game after one inning, as planned.

This is the final stage of Ray’s recovery from Tommy John surgery for the torn flexor tendon in his left elbow, which he suffered early last season with the Seattle Mariners.

The left-hander reached the apex of his career with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2021, when he went 13-7 with an American League-leading 2.84 ERA and won the Cy Young award. He also led all of baseball with 248 strikeouts.

Ray went 12-12 with the Mariners in 2022, but only made one start in 2023 before the injury. At that point, the Mariners struck a trade with San Francisco.

Ray has a 74-71 career record with a 3.96 ERA in stints with the Detroit Tigers, Arizona Diamondbacks, Blue Jays and Mariners.

The Giants dealt Mitch Haniger, Anthony DeSclafani, and cash considerations to Seattle for Ray in January, even though San Francisco knew the 31-year-old would not be ready to pitch until the season’s second half.

What has manager Bob Melvin happiest is that Ray’s velocity is already up to 96 mph.

Now, barring setbacks, his opportunity to put on a Giants uniform and pitch in the Majors again is growing near.

While Ray is improving, another starter, Keaton Winn, is set to be activated from the 15-day injured list so he can start on Sunday against the Texas Rangers.

Winn missed the past month with a right forearm strain. He made his rehab start with the ACL Giants the same night Ray did, as he gave up one run on two hits and two walks in 3.2 innings.

The Giants are also hopeful that left-hander Blake Snell could be ready from his groin injury soon.

He threw from flat group in Texas on Friday and, barring setbacks, should throw from a mound next week.