MESA, Ariz. — At the end of last year’s postseason, Robbie Ray sent a text message to Tarik Skubal — one lefty to another.
Skubal had just won the 2024 American League Cy Young Award, the changeup being one of his foundational pitches. The changeup hadn’t been a mainstay in Ray’s arsenal in nearly a decade, but Ray wanted another weapon to use against right-handed hitters. So, Ray reached out to the game’s best left-handed pitcher asking for assistance. Skubal, five years Ray’s junior, was more than happy to oblige.
“He kind of just sent me the kitchen sink,” Ray said. “He sent me pictures, videos, everything. He was very open about it. I was very thankful.”
Ray unleashed his new changeup in his first start of Cactus League play on Tuesday afternoon as the Giants lost to the recently-departed A’s, 7-5, tossing two scoreless innings with three strikeouts. The exact number of changeups that Ray threw against the A’s is unclear — Hohokam Stadium doesn’t have Statcast capabilities — but based on movement profiles, Ray appeared to throw at least five changeups. After using the pitch in his live bullpens, Ray was pleased with how the pitch performed in a game scenario.
“I worked really hard all offseason on perfecting it,” said Ray, who had a 4.70 ERA over seven starts last season in his return from Tommy John Surgery. “We have similar arm slots, maybe a little bit higher than I am, but very similar. I’ve always struggled with throwing a changeup. I don’t pronate very well. That’s usually kind of how you throw a changeup, but the way that he taught me, you don’t have to. It seems to be working pretty well.”
The 33-year-old left-hander confirmed that he got designated hitter Brent Rooker, who recently signed a $60 million extension, to whiff on a first-pitch changeup. Ahead in the count 0-1, Ray dropped in another changeup against Rooker for a called strike. Ray said he throws the pitch, which he describes as a “two-seam changeup,” with the same action as throwing a slider, the difference being that the changeup will “catch a seam and go away” to righties. Ray didn’t throw any curveballs against the A’s, but confirmed that the breaking ball will still be part of the mix.
“He’s trying to turn himself into a three-pitch pitcher, just be a little bit less predictable,” said manager Bob Melvin. “His breaking ball was good today. His changeup has looked good in the ‘pen. A little bit more usage is going to help him out as a starter.”
Ray regularly used the changeup as a rookie with the Justin Verlander-led Detroit Tigers in 2014, throwing the pitch 26.3 percent of the time. The changeup was ineffective against opposing hitters, who had a .317 batting average .488 slugging percentage against the offspeed offering. Since then, Ray has relegated the changeup to cameo status.
The changeup accounted for 8 percent of Ray’s pitches in 2015, then 6.3 percent of his pitches in 2016. By 2017, Ray eliminated the pitch from his repertoire. Ray sprinkled in a few changeups from 2020-22, but not enough to be a true part of his arsenal. Ray told reporters Tuesday that he used to throw a splitter, but has never thrown the pitch in a major league game, according to Baseball Savant. A decade after his debut, the changeup might finally be back en vogue.
“I was excited to see what it looked like in a game situation where everything kind of ticks up a little bit,” Ray said.
This isn’t the first time Ray has sought guidance from another pitcher about learning a pitch. In 2022, Ray FaceTime’d the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Blake Treinen about throwing a sinker, Treinen’s “Turbo Sinker” being one of baseball’s most unhittable pitches. Ray didn’t throw a single sinker in April and tossed only one in May, but by June Ray was throwing the sinker more than 30 percent of the time.
“I feel like guys are more willing to help out; it’s just a matter of asking,” Ray said. “I think a lot of guys are scared to ask because they feel like they don’t need to or they’re just nervous of what the person’s going to say. What’s the worst thing he’s going to say? No?”
Lucchesi makes early case for second lefty job
Erik Miller, who recently dealt with inflammation in his left middle finger, is currently the only left-handed reliever on the Giants’ 40-man roster, but Newark native Joey Lucchesi made his first case for the Opening Day roster by throwing a 1-2-3 inning against the A’s.
Lucchesi’s velocity was abnormally low during his early bullpen sessions, according to Melvin, but Lucchesi’s heater was back up to his normal low-90s range on Tuesday.
“It’s important for him to finally get his first game,” Melvin said. “He’s a guy who can give you length. He’s another lefty. We brought him into camp for a reason. Got off to a good start.”
Melvin said a second left-hander would ideally be able to pitch multiple innings, and the 31-year-old Lucchesi is plenty capable of providing length out of the bullpen. Over six major-league seasons, Lucchesi has made 77 starts and tossed nearly 400 innings.