Left-hander Robbie Ray of the Arizona Diamondbacks seemed to pick up right where he left off last season. Despite one of the top strikeout pitchers in the National League last season, Ray’s essential malady dealt with pitch count and command.
After nearly every start last season, Ray addressed that issue and always repeated the need for significant improvement in that area. That prevented the native of Brentwood, Tenn. from going deep into games, and resulted in numerous early exits.
Before Ray’s first start of the spring Wednesday, manager Torey Lovullo told Venom Strikes the main issue facing Ray was his inability to put hitters away.