In a Wild Lefty With Huge Potential, a Hall of Famer Saw Himself
The New York Times
Robbie Ray’s path from walks leader to Cy Young Award favorite has been eerily similar to Randy Johnson’s. It was Johnson who helped push Ray toward greatness.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The breakout came in the year he turned 30, but his talent was clear long before. A power left-hander with a knockout fastball and slider, he had made an All-Star team but regressed, struggling for the right way to harness his strength. He piled up strikeouts — but also walks — like few others in baseball.
Also, he once killed a bird with a ball in flight.
All of that, of course, describes Randy Johnson, who became the most decorated left-hander in baseball history. It also describes Robbie Ray, the surprise ace of the Toronto Blue Jays. Ray claimed his bird a couple of years ago — not with a pitch at spring training, as Johnson famously did, but on a drive at the Camelback Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.
