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Another start, another record-breaking performance from Robbie Ray.
After becoming the first Blue Jays left-handed pitcher to strike out 14 batters in a game in his last outing, Ray dominated the Orioles on Monday and in doing so set another record. The left-hander held Baltimore to two runs on just four hits and one walk over seven innings, striking out 10 batters along the way as the Jays won their third straight.
The outing put Ray past the 1,000-inning mark for his career at 1,001 2/3 frames and pushed his career strikeout total to 1,244. That’s the most strikeouts anyone has ever had in the first 1,000 innings of their career. Like, as in the most in the history of baseball.
In the smaller picture, Ray has notched three straight double-digit strikeout games and is now sitting at 202 Ks for the season. That’s good for the top spot in the American League and is just six behind Zack Wheeler for the most in baseball.
We’ve always known Ray can miss bats, of course. That much is obvious given the aforementioned career strikeout total. This is his fourth career 200-strikeout season. What we didn’t know was whether Ray would ever be able to throw enough strikes to take that next step into ace status. Well, he’s answered that question emphatically.
Ray issued nine walks in his first two starts of the season. Since then he’s walked just 29 batters over 149 1/3 innings. That’s covering 24 starts. In seven starts and 31 innings for the Diamondbacks last season, Ray walked 31 batters.
Ray has changed his pitch mix up a bit this season. He’s always been primarily a fastball-slider guy, but that’s been the case even more so in 2021, with the two offerings representing nearly 90 percent of his pitches. His curveball percentage never dropped below 15.8 percent in the previous four seasons and topped out at over 20 percent. This year it’s at about seven percent. On Monday, Ray threw just two curves and four changeups among his 97 pitches. All the rest were fastballs and sliders (both pitches induced 10 whiffs apiece).
The 29-year-old Ray still has home run issues, having given up 25 on the year which is tied for the eighth-highest total in baseball. He still has hard-contact issues, too, with an average exit velocity coming into Monday that ranked in just the 15th percentile. However, when you miss as many bats as Ray does and now it’s combined with good control, it’s been more than enough to overcome his shortcomings.
After settling for a one-year contract from the Blue Jays last winter, Ray is set to strike it rich when he hits the market again this offseason.
Starting Pitchers with an EDGE
Corbin Burnes vs. SF – 6 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 9 K
Burnes rebounded from a rare so-so start his last time out with a dominant effort against the team with the best record in baseball. It was the 11th time this season that Burnes has recorded at last nine strikeouts while not walking more than one batter in an outing. He’s up to 189 strikeouts to just 26 walks over 139 innings this season.
Julio Urias vs. ATL – 6 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 7 K
Urias served up back-to-back solo home runs in his final inning of work versus the Braves on Monday, but that was all the left-hander surrendered over six excellent frames. In 10 starts since the beginning of July, Urias has put up a microscopic 1.88 ERA to lower his season mark to 3.17. It was Urias’ 15th win of the season, which is the high-water mark in baseball.
Jon Lester vs. CIN – 6 1/3 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 2 BB, 5 K
Lester turned back the clock a bit Monday versus the Reds, with a Kyle Farmer leadoff home run in the second inning being the only hit and run he gave up. The veteran left-hander came into this one with a 6.04 ERA in five starts with the Cardinals and a 5.27 ERA overall on the year. Cincinnati has struggled against southpaws this season, going into Monday with a .300 wOBA which ranked 26th in baseball. Still, Lester’s performance was certainly a surprise.
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Hitters with an EDGE
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. vs. BAL – 2-for-4, 2 HR, 4 RBI
Vlad Jr. slugged home runs No. 37 and 38 Monday as the Blue Jays bested the Orioles to capture their third win in a row. First it was a solo blast off of Chris Ellis to lead off the bottom of the fourth inning, and later Guerrero swatted a three-run shot off reliever Marcos Diplan. It’s the young slugger’s fifth multi-homer game this season, with one of those being a three-homer contest. He moves into a tie with Salvador Perez with his 38 dingers, which is three off of Shohei Ohtani’s league-leading 42.
Brandon Lowe vs. BOS – 2-for-3, HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 2 R
Lowe led off the bottom of the first inning of Monday’s game against the Red Sox with his 31st home run of the season. He also added an RBI single in addition to drawing a couple free passes. The long ball was the ninth this month for Lowe. He’s hit 22 of his 21 taters since June 1, rebounding majorly from a slow first two months of the season.
Trevor Story vs. TEX – 2-for-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI
Story grew up in the Dallas area and had over 40 family and friends at Globe Life Park on Monday. He gave them a show, popping a solo home run in the seventh inning and then a two-run shot in the eighth for the Rockies’ only three runs of the game. He had come into the game in a 2-for-24 drought at the dish. It’s undoubtedly been a disappointing season for Story in his walk year, but he still has a good shot at a 20-20 campaign.[[ad:athena]]
Priority Pickup
Nick Solak, 2B/OF, Rangers – available in 74 percent of Yahoo fantasy leagues
There was some fantasy buzz about Solak before the season, but the Rangers sent him down in late July after he put up a lowly .225/.295/.353 batting line in his first 92 contests. However, upon his recall earlier this month, Solak has a hit in all eight games, going 12-for-33 with two home runs and a stolen base. The 26-year-old has power and some speed and is multi-position eligible. He certainly has the potential to be useful down the stretch.
Closing Time
Prior to Monday’s game in Cincinnati, Cardinals manager Mike Shildt indicated that he would play the matchups with the closer role with Alex Reyes scuffling. Sure enough, a save opportunity presented itself and Giovanny Gallegos nailed down a 3-1 win with a 1-2-3 ninth inning. Gallegos has had some struggles this month himself, although they were mostly in early August. He might be the best bet to lead the Cards in saves the rest of the season.
With Ian Kennedy evidently unavailable, Phillies manager Joe Girardi turned to Jose Alvarado to close on Monday versus the Nationals. It wasn’t easy, as the lefty immediately put the tying run at the plate with a double and a walk to the first two hitters. However, Alvarado buckled down and got a couple strikeouts and a fielder’s choice to end it.
Fresh off the injured list, Joe Barlow needed just seven pitches to dispose of the Rockies in the ninth inning to protect a one-run lead for the Rangers. Barlow missed a week and a half with a blister issue but is clearly back to being manager Chris Woodward’s preferred choice to close. The 25-year-old has now converted all three of his save chances and has given up just two earned runs with a 20/7 K/BB ratio over 17 2/3 innings.
Kenley Jansen had the night off, so the Dodgers turned to Blake Treinen in the ninth inning Monday with a two-run lead against the Braves. He made things interesting with consecutive one-out singles, but Treinen picked up a strikeout and a flyout to seal the victory. It was the fifth save of the season for Treinen.
Tuesday’s Matchup of the Day
Charlie Morton (ATL) vs. Walker Buehler (LAD)
Morton is 37 and plays in a city literally nicknamed “Hotlanta,” so we would forgive him if he started to wear down as the year went along. Instead, August has been arguably his best month, as he holds a 3.10 ERA, 0.90 WHIP and 38/5 K/BB ratio over 29 innings covering five starts. He’ll try to finish off the month in style Tuesday, but it won’t be easy against the Dodgers. Meanwhile, with a league-low 2.02 ERA, Buehler might be the frontrunner for the National League Cy Young award. He’ll try to make it 10 starts in a row in which he hasn’t given up more than two runs.
American League Quick Hits: Mike Trout still has soreness in his right calf and Angels manager Joe Maddon acknowledged Monday that the team is nearing the point to decide whether they should shut him down … Shohei Ohtani (hand) will not make his scheduled start on Tuesday versus the Yankees. He will, however, continue hitting while his hand heals, and he smashed his league-leading 42nd long ball Monday … George Springer reached twice, scored two runs and stole a base in his return to action Monday … Jose Urquidy (shoulder) could rejoin the Astros’ rotation this weekend versus the Padres … Jack Mayfield clubbed a grand slam as the Angels edged the Yankees on Monday … Giancarlo Stanton went deep again and plated three runs Monday in Anaheim … A.J. Alexy held the Rockies to just one hit and three walks over five scoreless frames in his major league debut Monday … Luis Patino tossed 5 2/3 frames of one-run ball Monday as the Rays topped the Red Sox … Matt Barnes was placed on the COVID-19 IL after testing positive for the virus … Bailey Ober struck out five and didn’t walk anyone while holding the Tigers to two runs over six frames Monday.
National League Quick Hits: Fernando Tatis Jr. went 3-for-5 with a two-run home run and an RBI double on Friday against the Diamondbacks … Freddy Peralta (shoulder) is expected to rejoin the Brewers’ rotation on Friday against the Cardinals. The Brewers also expect to get Eduardo Escobar (hamstring) back sometime during the series … Brad Miller homered and reached base five times against the Nationals on Monday … Kyle Farmer homered and doubled for the Reds’ only two hits on Monday versus the Cardinals … Ketel Marte smacked a grand slam, but it wasn’t enough in the Diamondbacks’ loss to the Padres … Alex Wood landed on the injured list Monday after testing positive for COVID-19. Johnny Cueto was also placed on the IL, but he has not tested positive … Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Monday that he doesn’t expect Cody Bellinger to start against lefties for the rest of the season … Clayton Kershaw (forearm) threw a simulated game Monday.
