LOS ANGELES — Robbie Ray threw a bullpen Monday afternoon at Dodger Stadium, and his next step will mean moving to the mound on the middle of the diamond.
At long last, the 32-year-old left-hander can see the finish line of his 16-month journey back from surgeries to repair his ulnar collateral ligament and flexor tendon in his throwing elbow. On Wednesday, the former Cy Young winner will make his first major league start since March 31, 2023 — and first ever in a Giants uniform.
“I’m excited. It’s been a long journey,” Ray said from his locker in the corner of the visitors’ clubhouse. “It’s had its ups; it’s had its downs. I’ve been able to take a lot of positives out of this. But I’m definitely excited to be back out there and competing at the highest level.”
Manager Bob Melvin watched Ray throw in the bullpen beyond the right field fence and said, “He’s rearing to go.”
Ray said he began to switch from rehab to competition mode only earlier this month, three or four rehab starts ago.
Last Sunday, while the Giants wrapped up the first half, Ray tossed five scoreless innings for Single-A San Jose, and on Friday, he pitched into the sixth inning for Triple-A Sacramento without allowing a run. He combined to allow two hits while striking out 16 with three walks over 10⅓ innings between his final two rehab starts.
“I think my last two rehab outings have been really big for me,” Ray said. “Those first few times you get back on the mound, it’s almost like you’re going through the motions, and you don’t really realize what you’re doing.
‘I would say for me I felt like I was just going through the motions, checking the boxes, until maybe three starts ago. I was like, ‘Something’s got to change here. I’ve got to turn it on. Whatever it is, I’ve got to manufacture that competitive drive.’ I was able to do it, which was great.”
For a pitcher who gives it all on every pitch to such a degree that it is audible for anyone in attendance, the past year and a half of being unable to fulfill that competitive drive was foreign. It wasn’t easy to cope with being unable to contribute last season for the Mariners and through the first half of this year after being traded to the Giants in exchange for Mitch Haniger over the winter.
The biggest takeaway from the process, Ray said, was his ability to persevere.
“It’s really easy to get down when essentially you’re out for 14 months. It’s really easy to feel disconnected, like you’re not one of the guys,” Ray said. “We’re all competitors. We all want to be out there for every single pitch of every single game, so when you’re out of it for 15 months, 16 months, whatever it is, you just feel useless. It’s just taking a step back and saying no, this is the process, I have to go through this until I’m available.”
Ray credited his wife, Taylor, most of all, with helping him throughout the process. With their four kids running around the house and a husband with his arm in a brace and doctor’s orders to rest, “essentially she had five kids.”
“Because I couldn’t do anything,” Ray said. “The kids want to play? I can’t play with them. So she had to do everything. She’s been a rockstar.”
When he is activated before Wednesday’s game, Ray will be opposed by another highly regarded pitcher coming off the injured list — Dodgers right-hander Tyler Glasnow — and Thursday’s series finale will pit Logan Webb against Clayton Kershaw in the 36-year-old southpaw’s first start of the season.
Ray threw 78 pitches in his final rehab start, which he called a “good benchmark” of what to expect in his first time back on a major-league mound, but by the end of the season, “hopefully I’ll be able to get into the seventh, into the eighth (inning).”
Not far behind him is Alex Cobb, who threw five scoreless innings Saturday in Sacramento and will make one more rehab start this weekend. Asked if that makes him more likely to return when the team hits the road for Cincinnati after their next homestand, Melvin said, “Not necessarily. It could be at home.”
Less likely to see a mound again this season is Keaton Winn, who experienced more discomfort in his throwing elbow and will be shut down from throwing “for a while,” Melvin said. He met with Dr. Ken Akizuki, the team’s head surgeon, but will likely require further consultation with an elbow specialist, according to Melvin.
“We’ll see where we go from here. It’s been going on for quite a bit,” Melvin said. “I don’t know what the resolution is going to be or what that conversation is once we have those.”
That said, with Webb, Ray, Cobb, Blake Snell, and Kyle Harrison, the Giants have something resembling a five-man rotation for seemingly the first time all season.
The question, with the team four games below .500 and toward the bottom of a big pack of teams vying for the final wild card spot, will it be too late?
“It’s never too late,” Ray said with a grin. “I think this group is going to be the group that has to carry the team. I think that’s going to be a big part of it. Five guys in the rotation, the veteran leadership, the guys coming in everyday and doing the work. I think that’s what’s going to make the difference.”
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Notable
— A day after Hayden Birdsong struck out 12 over six innings in a win over the Rockies, the 22-year-old right-hander was optioned back to the minor leagues to clear room on the active roster for RHP Michael Baumann, who was acquired from the Mariners for cash on Sunday.
Birdsong shouldn’t be in the minors for long, though. He was saying farewell to teammates while repeating, “See you Saturday.” The Giants host the Rockies in a scheduled doubleheader, for which both teams can call up an extra player without waiting the usually 15 days required after optioning a pitcher.
Baumann was activated before Monday’s first pitch to provide length out of the bullpen if necessary, Melvin said. He had a 4.41 ERA in 35 appearances between the Orioles and Mariners this season and owns a 4.57 ERA over 112 career games.
“A four-game series here, these guys tend to extend some pitch counts. You tend to go through some relievers in a series like this,” Melvin said. “So it’s nice to have an extra arm.”
