Giants Set Robbie Ray to Start Spring Training Home Opener Against Cubs

The San Francisco Giants will start left-handed Robbie Ray for their Cactus League home opener on Sunday against the Chicago Cubs.

Multiple outlets, including The San Francisco Chronicle’s Shayna Rubin, posted the update from manager Tony Vitello on X (formerly Twittter).

That game is set for 1:05 p.m. mountain time and 12:05 p.m. pacific time and will be broadcast on both KNBR radio and through the SFG livestream. The game will be played at Scottsdale Stadium.

San Francisco will open the full spring training slate on Saturday at the Seattle Mariners in Peoria, Ariz. Hayden Birdsong will be the starting pitcher.

Robbie Ray’s Giants Importance

Ray is expected to be the Giants’ No. 2 starter behind Logan Webb, who is going to play for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic and will be absent for part of spring training. Ray is coming off his most productive season since 2022.

Last year he went 11-8 with a 3.65 ERA in 32 starts, with 186 strikeouts and 73 walks in 182.1 innings. He also made his second All-Star Game appearance, with the other coming in 2017 for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

He is in the final year of his contract, one that he signed with the Seattle Mariners before the 2022 season.

Ray won an American League Cy Young with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2021, going 13-7 with a 2.48 ERA. He led the AL in ERA, starts (32), innings pitched (193.1), strikeouts (248) and ERA+ (157). That landed him a deal with the Mariners.

In his first season with Seattle, he went 12-12 with a 3.71 ERA in 32 starts, with 212 strikeouts and 62 walks in 189 innings. He made one start in the 2023 season before suffering an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery. The Giants acquired him in a trade the following offseason for Mitch Haniger, Anthony DeSclafani, and cash considerations.

Ray returned midway through the 2024 season from his rehab and started in seven games, as he went 3-2 with a 4.70 ERA with 43 strikeouts and 15 walks in 30.2 innings.

Behind Webb and Ray, the Giants are expected to use Adrian Houser and Tyler Mahle as their third and fourth starters. Landen Roupp has the inside track to be the fifth starter, but he could be pushed by pitchers like Birdsong and Carson Seymour, who are looking to crash the rotation for opening day.

For Saturday’s opener, the Giants are expected to take Harrison Bader, Heliot Ramos, Bryce Eldridge, Casey Schmitt and Christian Koss with them on the trip, per Rubin.