Ray already leaving mark on Mariners camp

PEORIA, Ariz. -- It was just a live BP session, but if it weren’t for the back-field setting in mid-March, one might’ve assumed that it was a heated Major League game in the thick of the regular season. Robbie Ray approached and unleashed each pitch with deliberation and vigor.

“I just try to throw every pitch with purpose, every pitch with intent behind it,” Ray said. “I’m not just up there throwing just to throw. I definitely take it seriously, because it's the only time we really have to work on our craft.”

Ray embodied that intensity, once again, with the grunt heard ‘round Mariners camp, an ongoing echo that manager Scott Servais marveled over when putting eyes on Ray for the first time in a Seattle uniform.

“It looked just like it was at the end of the year,” Servais said. “I mean, he was coming out hot.”

“His fastball jumps. The slider is something that I think speaks for itself,” outfielder Jarred Kelenic said. “You don't strike out 200-whatever hitters a year without it. It's pretty hard, pretty sharp.”

Beyond being a top-of-the-rotation ace as the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner, Ray’s arrival is symbolic of the Mariners’ transition from a stepback three years ago to, what they hope, their first postseason appearance in two decades. After years of roster turnover, including setting an MLB record by using 42 pitchers in 2019, Seattle signed Ray to a five-year, $115 million contract, its richest since president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto arrived in 2015.

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Ray was fresh on the heels of a 2021 season in which he led AL starters in ERA (2.84), strikeouts (248), innings (193 1/3), starts (32), WHIP (1.045) and ERA+ (154), all while pitching in the gauntlet of an AL East division that featured three postseason teams.

Tom Murphy, who’s risen through the club’s leadership ranks and also brings a seriousness to the field, even tried to create some levity when catching Ray’s bullpen session earlier this week, which reached roughly 50 pitches, more than double most everyone else’s. Murphy grunted back at Ray after one of his throws.

“He’s a pretty intense guy. We see him floating around here, he hasn’t said much to everybody, but you can tell he’s all business,” Murphy said. “I think that's really important for our young guys to see that. You have to come out here and be everything you can be every time every day you’re out. This is a guy coming off a Cy Young. He’s out here on his first bullpen and grunting and doing all sorts of things and he's just preparing, and when you do that, and when you put everything into it, that's what it looks like.”

Ray, 30, didn’t turn into a Cy Young winner overnight. Over eight seasons, Ray played for three teams, blossomed into an All-Star, battled a few injuries and also lost his footing, literally. He toyed with multiple deliveries that created inconsistencies before finally finding the right fit. He added a pronounced turn that aims his back almost directly facing the hitter. Not only does it create more deception, but it also helps execute, in his eyes, a clean and repeatable motion and a consistent release point.

“The thing that excited me most about Robbie Ray early on, he's figured this out kind of on his own,” Servais said. “It hasn't been like just, he went to a special guru or, ‘I'm going to change this one thing’ and all of a sudden, it clicks. It’s been trial and error and back and forth a little bit throughout his career. And when you do that, you ultimately become your own coach, and when you can coach yourself, I’ve always said, then you become a real big leaguer. And then you put a great talent on top of that, and you win a Cy Young Award.”

Given that Ray signed hours before the lockout began on Dec. 1, he’s only just now meeting many of his new teammates for the first time. His quiet, intense and cerebral personality is already carrying a presence.