Uncertain of reception, Mariners’ Ray toes acquainted rubber in Game 2 vs. Blue Jays

TORONTO — Robbie Ray will take the mound at Rogers Centre on Saturday for the primary time since he left the Toronto Blue Jays. He earned a Cy Young whereas pitching for the membership final yr, was an integral cog in a group that fell only one recreation wanting the post-season and but, regardless of all that, Ray doesn’t know the way the house crowd will welcome him as a customer.

“I would think that it would be pretty positive, but this is a playoff [game], so there could be a lot of boos for sure,” Ray stated with amusing throughout his media availability on Friday at Rogers Centre.

The left-hander will begin Game 2 of the wild-card sequence for the Mariners, who’ve an opportunity to clinch following a 4-0 victory in Friday’s opener of the best-of-three set. Right-hander Luis Castillo stifled the Blue Jays offence in that contest, whereas the M’s scored three runs off Alek Manoah within the first inning and by no means appeared again.

As far as storylines go, Ray’s return is multi-layered and provides to what’s going to already be a dramatic afternoon in Toronto. Not solely is the 31-year-old going to stare down his former teammates and mates with an opportunity to get rid of them, however he’s additionally going up in opposition to right-hander Kevin Gausman, who the Blue Jays signed in the future after Ray inked his cope with the Mariners.

Essentially, Ray is pitching in opposition to his alternative.

Ray — who acquired a five-year, $115-million deal in comparison with Gausman’s five-year, $110-million contract — was requested if the matchup added any intrigue to Saturday and responded with a easy, “No.”

He did elaborate on his resolution to affix the Mariners, although, saying that when the Blue Jays travelled to Seattle for a sequence in August of 2021, it opened his eyes as much as the younger, thrilling ballclub, its followers and the ambiance of T-Mobile Park.

Money was additionally an element, he stated.

“Obviously, the financials behind it were a big part of it too because I’m trying to set up my family for a long time,” stated Ray. “I’m not going to sit here and lie to you. That was a big part of it… Those were kind of the two biggest factors for me.”

Ray was acquired by the Blue Jays in an August 2020 commerce with the Arizona Diamondbacks and resurrected his profession with the assistance of pitching coach Pete Walker and the Blue Jays’ employees. That culminated in his dominant 2021 marketing campaign by which he led the AL in ERA (2.84), innings (193.1) and strikeouts (248) en path to capturing his first Cy Young award.

“Honestly, they allowed me to be myself and learn some things on the fly and learn a little bit about myself that I hadn’t known,” stated Ray, a veteran of 9 big-league seasons. “I believe, for me, that was one thing that was lacking. [With other clubs] it was at all times, ‘You need to do this, you need to do this.’ With the Blue Jays it was, ‘We are just going to let you be yourself as far as your workout routine, your pitches that you choose, game-planning, stuff like that.’

“They just allowed me to be what I needed to be and let me learn what it really means to be here and to take ownership of what I do,” he continued. “That’s exactly what I needed at the time.”

On-field success was one side to his time in Toronto, however Ray additionally cherished the bond he developed along with his teammates throughout their vagabond, COVID-impacted 2021 marketing campaign that noticed the franchise play dwelling video games in Dunedin, Buffalo and, lastly, Toronto.

“That second leg when we were all in Buffalo, we were all staying in the hotel together and it was like a bunch of brothers just hanging out,” Ray advised Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi throughout an interview this previous summer time. “I talk about it all the time — that was a special group we had. It didn’t matter who it was, on a nightly basis it was five, six, seven, eight of us hanging out eating pizza, eating wings in Hyun Jin [Ryu’s] room or my room, just hanging out and just being guys. It brought us closer together for sure.”

Prior to Friday’s Game 1, Ray embraced Ryu with a hug when he bumped into his former teammate exterior of the Blue Jays’ clubhouse. He later stated that he nonetheless retains in contact with the South Korean lefty, calling and texting him, together with different Blue Jays gamers.

“Who doesn’t love Hyun Jin?” requested Ray. “He is a great human being. He is awesome. He took care of me. He always brings a smile to your face when you see him. For me, being able to see him today and give him a big hug was awesome.”

Sentimentalities apart, Ray’s focus is clearly mounted on the duty at hand, which is to assist the Mariners advance to the AL Division Series in opposition to the Houston Astros. The membership is within the post-season for the primary time since 2001, breaking the longest such lively drought in North American skilled sports activities.

Ray’s been inconsistent at instances throughout his inaugural marketing campaign with the Mariners, posting a 12-12 document with 3.71 ERA and 4.17 FIP throughout 32 begins and 189 innings. However, in accordance with Mariners supervisor Scott Servais, numbers don’t paint the total image of the left-hander’s contributions to his new membership.

“He’s meant a lot to our team this year,” Servais stated. “It really came out probably over the last month, two months more than it did earlier in the year [with him] taking on a little bit more of a leadership role with the whole group — not just with the other starting pitchers.”

Now, Servais will hand the ball to Ray for an important begin of his Mariners tenure and, arguably, an important of his whole profession.

“I think it’s going to be exciting for him,” stated the supervisor. “I know his stuff is going to be really good tomorrow, and I know you’ll hear him grunting.”

Ray, for his half, is aware of what to anticipate when he toes the acquainted rubber.

“It’s obviously going to be very loud here,” he stated. “The roof is closed. [It’s] going to be packed. The followers listed below are loud, they love baseball, they love the Blue Jays.

“For me, it’s just understanding that we’re still playing baseball, and we just have to continue to play the way that we have that has gotten us here. Not letting the situation get too big, not letting the crowd control the narrative.”