TORONTO — Robbie Ray will officially make his much-anticipated return to the Rogers Centre mound and face the team with which he won the AL Cy Young Award last season. The Mariners’ lefty was announced as the club’s Game 2 starter for the AL Wild Card Series by manager Scott Servais during the club’s workout day on Thursday.
Logan Gilbert will start Game 3 on Sunday, if necessary, making official what had been expected. However, Servais suggested that plans could shift based on Friday’s outcome in this best-of-three series, suggesting that rookie George Kirby could also be in play.
“That very well could change,” Servais said.
Ray didn’t travel with the Mariners to Toronto in May due to COVID-19 vaccination stipulations, which last Saturday were lifted in Canada. He started against his former team on July 9 in Seattle, leading the Mariners to a tense 2-1 victory that was part of the club’s 14-game win streak.
Ray, who was traded from Arizona to Toronto during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, endured his worst big league season that year, compiling a 6.62 ERA and surrendering 13 homers in 51 2/3 innings. It was such a tough year that Ray returned on a one-year, $8 million deal in his first year of free agency to re-establish his value. He proceeded to win the AL’s top pitching award while leading MLB with 248 strikeouts and pacing the AL with a 2.84 ERA and 193 1/3 innings.
That led Ray to sign a five-year, $115 million contract last year with Seattle, which at the time was the richest under president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto. Ray signed with the intent to make starts such as Saturday’s.
“Winning the Cy Young last year, the highest honor you can win as a starting pitcher, now it’s time to take it to the next level and win a World Series,” Ray said recently. “And that’s what I want to do every single year, but I could tell that this team, the way that they were going, the path that was laid out for this team, it just seemed like the perfect fit.”
Ray has a career 2.49 ERA and 89 strikeouts in 65 innings across 10 starts at Rogers Centre. This season, he had a 3.71 ERA overall in 189 innings, eclipsing 200 strikeouts for the fifth time in his career.
Gilbert, who threw 185 2/3 innings — by far a career high — had a 3.20 ERA across 32 starts in his sophomore season. The towering 6-foot-6 righty skipped his scheduled turn on Wednesday after home-field advantage for the Wild Card Series was no longer in play. He would be pitching on eight days’ rest after making his most recent start on Sept. 30.
Until two weeks ago, Kirby appeared to be primed for the Game 3 assignment, but his stuff has diminished in recent outings to the point where Gilbert is now the obvious choice.
“George Kirby is waiting in the wings, and George has had a fantastic season in his rookie year,” Servais said. “He’s been one of the better pitchers in the American League here the last couple of months, so he will play a role in this series — at what juncture he will insert himself, I’m not quite sure yet. The game kind of tells you.”
Marlowe likely set for playoff roster, MLB debut
All signs are pointing for outfielder Cade Marlowe to be called up from the Minors, added to the 40-man roster and included in the 26-man contingent against Toronto, at which point he’d be making his MLB debut. The club won’t officially announce its roster until Friday morning, but Marlowe traveled with the team and at the very least will be on the club’s taxi squad.
Seattle’s No. 22 prospect, per MLB Pipeline, Marlowe was recently named the club’s Edgar Martinez Dominate the Zone Hitter Award winner among its Minor Leaguers after slashing .287/.377/.487 (.864 OPS) with 23 homers, 102 RBIs and 42 stolen bases between Double-A and Triple-A. Last year, he won the Ken Griffey Jr. Minor League Hitter of the Year Award.
If added, the 25-year-old will likely fill the sparkplug role off the bench that the Mariners lost when Sam Haggerty suffered a Grade 2 adductor strain on Monday.
“He can play defense, he can run and he hits,” Dipoto said. “He’s a sneaky good prospect. … This was an easy choice for us just based on the quality of his defense and the fact that he’s a plus runner and in the postseason, those are really key things to have in terms of bench impact.”
In order to clear a 40-man spot for Marlowe, the Mariners could transfer one of their injured players, such as Haggerty or reliever Ryan Borucki, to the 60-day IL and apply for an injury exemption with the league, which would almost certainly be approved.