PEORIA, Ariz. — Fighting for the franchise's first playoff berth in two decades, the Mariners did not play well on their final road trip of the 2022 season. They lost seven of 10 games to the likes of the Angels, A's and Royals — all sub-.500 teams — and, worst of all, they blew a nine-run lead in a 13-12 loss at Kansas City on the final day of the road swing.
Two days later, in the first game of their final homestand, they were listless in a 5-0 loss to the Texas Rangers. It was getting ugly, and Robbie Ray had had enough.
The veteran left-hander went to the manager's office and vented his frustration to Scott Servais.
Servais' response: You need to tell that to your teammates.
So Ray did just that, calling a team meeting in the clubhouse to voice his opinion.
"That last week of the season, things were starting to kind of slip," Ray said. "It almost seemed like we were watching other people and hoping that they would lose instead of going out and taking care of business the way that I felt like we needed to."
That meeting, Ray said this week, was when he began to realize his potential as a leader. A few days later, when Cal Raleigh's walkoff home run against the A's clinched the club's long-awaited postseason berth, Servais asked Ray to give a speech before the team's Champagne celebration.
"It all culminated in that one moment," Ray said. "(Servais) was like, 'Hey, I don't know if I can talk right now. I need you to step up.' And it was a really cool moment."
Ray has the clubhouse buzzing again this spring. Yes, Ray remains a valued presence as a leader, but more than anything it's what he's doing on the mound that has teammates and coaches encouraged.
"He's throwing absolute fuel," pitching coach Pete Woodworth said.
Ray's average fastball velocity registered at 95.3 mph in his third start of spring Monday against the Angels. That is almost 3 mph faster than his average during spring last year (92.5).
"You can definitely see it," said Raleigh, who caught Ray on Monday in Tempe. "His slider and his splitter were really good (Monday), but his heater — it's just a different animal when it's coming out like that.
"We're all very excited about it. It was very much like the 2021 Cy Young winner."
Indeed, Ray won the American League Cy Young in 2021 pitching for Toronto in large part because of the effectiveness of his fastball, which averaged 94.8 mph, the highest velocity of his career.
Ray's fastball dipped to 93.4 overall in 2022, his first season with the Mariners after signing a five-year, $115 million free-agent deal.
He credited his improved velocity this spring to being able to have a normal offseason routine — no MLB lockout to work around, no free agency to navigate, to need to get acclimated to a new team and a new city.
This, he said, is the best he's felt in a long time.
"For me, I have to challenge guys and just say, 'Try to hit it,'" Ray said. "Especially right now (in spring). I feel like the ball is coming out really good, and for me I'm erring more on the side of catching more of the zone, because I feel really good about it."
Woodworth and Trent Blank, the M's director of pitching strategy, challenged Ray to alter his offseason pitching program.
Most years, Ray wouldn't throw his first bullpen until after he reported for spring training. This offseason, they asked him to ramp up his throwing a few weeks earlier.
"We wanted him to come in a couple steps ahead of where he used to be," Woodworth said. "You could tell he was motivated. He got to work in the weight room and then started throwing a little earlier, getting off the mound. It was really just four-seams. His main thing was getting his velo as high as he can."
In Ray's first formal bullpen session of the spring last month, his fastball averaged more than 93 mph — basically as hard as he threw at any point last season.
"I was like, 'Holy (expletive),'" Woodworth said.
On Monday, Ray was especially pleased that he was able to locate his fastball up in the zone, getting several swinging strikes on it. He finished with six strikeouts, and only one walk, in three innings. In eight innings overall this spring, he has struck out 12 and walked just two.
"It was really encouraging," Woodworth said. "And just like anybody, the harder you throw the better your other stuff gets."
Ray's slider has always been his best secondary pitch, and it plays well off his fastball.
He added a split-finger fastball this offseason, and he likes it so far.
"I feel really good about it," he said. "It's one of those things for me, the feel kind of comes and goes. But when I have it, it feels really good. I would say maybe 60-70% of the time it's coming out the way I want it to. So it's progressing. It's just a matter of continuing to get reps with it."
