Phillies Opposition Roadblock: Arizona Diamondbacks
The Pitcher: Robbie Ray
The Phillies will face Patrick Corbin, Zack Godley, and Robbie Ray this weekend. They miss out on Taijuan Walker and Zack Greinke. One would think that missing those two pitchers would be exciting, but Ray has arguably been the Diamondbacks’ best pitcher this season.
In his 13 starts, the lefty has 107 strikeouts, which leads the team. His team-best 2.62 ERA and 11.70 K/9 are head and shoulders above the rest of the staff. However, he is prone to walking a bunch of hitters. He has issued 35 free passes in 82.1 innings, so if the Phillies decide they feel like waiting him out, they may…win.
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In his last three starts he has registered double-digit strikeouts (10, 11, and 12). He has reached that feat in one more of his starts all the way back in April against his former organization, the Washington Nationals. The Diamondbacks have won the 25-year-old’s last five starts, dating back to May 20th. In all three, he received a winning decision and logged at least 6.2 innings in each.
Every current member of the Phillies who has an at-bat against him has recorded a hit, except Tommy Joseph and (surprise, surprise) Michael Saunders. As a matter of fact, Joseph has K’d in four of his five chances against Ray.
The Tennessee native has been better on the road over his short career, with opponents only managing a.660 against him. At Citizen’s Bank Park, he carries a 3.00 ERA in his one start. He only allowed two earned runs over six innings of work. He managed to scatter seven hits and a walk but set down seven Phillies on strikes.
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One thing to note is that as the game moves along, hitters frequently fare much better against him producing at a .297/.367/.519 clip when facing him for the third time. Now, this Phillies offense is not a potent offense, especially as a pitcher gets into a zone.
He features five different pitches, three of which he has thrown more than 250 times this season already. He will not try and get fancy when he is ahead though. Ray has struck out 56 of his 107 K victims with his fastball. The fastball is live and sits in the mid-90s. His slider-curveball combo has added 46 more to his punch-out total, and both sit in the low-to-mid 80s.