Robbie Ray DVOA, Advanced Stats, & Fantasy Rankings

San Franciso Giants starting pitcher Robbie Ray pitched five strong innings on Tuesday to pick up a win in the Giants' 6-4 victory over the Tigers. Ray has only been available for eight starts over the last two seasons but showed good potential in his seven starts last season, going 3-2 with a 4.70 ERA and 4.96 FIP but posting an impressive 12.6 K/9. The 2021 AL Cy Young winner has also looked sharp this spring, allowing just four earned runs in five starts for a 1.86 ERA. He racked up 23 strikeouts in 19 1/3 innings, highlighted by an eight-strikeout performance against the Rangers. Ray has shown he can be good enough when healthy to be a mixed-league option coming into the season. He'll face the Reds on the road in a less-than-ideal matchup next week, but he's definitely someone to watch early in the season.

San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Robbie Ray is reportedly adding a changeup to his repertoire. The lefty is said to have borrowed the grip from last year's AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal after communicating with him this offseason and results so far have been promising. The 33-year-old pitched two innings in Tuesday's 7-5 Cactus League loss to the Athletics, allowing no runs on one hit and zero walks while striking out three, including getting some whiffs on the new changeup. Ray made his way back from Tommy John surgery in July of last season, making seven starts before missing the rest of the year due to a hamstring strain. Although the 4.70 ERA and the 11.6 percent walk rate weren't good, the veteran still demonstrated strong strikeout stuff, posting a 33.3 percent K% with 43 strikeouts in 30 2/3 IP. Fully healthy and armed with a new pitch, the former Cy Young winner has a chance to be a sneaky value pick with an NFBC ADP of 165, as RotoBaller ranks him at 150 overall.

San Francisco Giants left-hander Robbie Ray (hamstring) was seen throwing a bullpen session at camp on Thursday. Ray recovered from Tommy John surgery last year and returned to make seven starts in his first year with the Giants, going 3-2 with a 4.70 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 43 strikeouts and 15 walks in 30 2/3 frames. However, the 33-year-old veteran southpaw ended the year on the injured list after straining his hamstring on Aug. 27. By all accounts, he's fully healthy for spring training and is fully expected to be locked into a starting rotation spot for San Fran in 2025. Ray's 4.70 ERA upon his return last year was not impressive, but his stuff was. The former American League Cy Young winner is injury-prone and can get wild at times, but he proved last year that he still has plenty of swing-and-miss stuff. At a low cost on draft day, Ray is absolutely worth rostering as fantasy starting pitching depth.