San Francisco Giants Former Cy Young-Winning Pitcher Under Immense Pressure

The San Francisco Giants are counting on one of their veteran pitchers stepping up in 2025.

Aug 20, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants pitcher Robbie Ray (23) catches the ball during the third inning against the Chicago White Sox at Oracle Park. / Stan Szeto-Imagn Images

The San Francisco Giants have more than a few questions that will need to be answered when Spring Training gets underway in a few weeks.

Who is going to step up alongside new star shortstop Willy Adames, who agreed to a record-setting seven-year, $182 million deal with the franchise in free agency?

There is a lack of impact players in the lineup, as third baseman Matt Chapman is the only other one who would qualify currently. Second baseman Tyler Fitzgerald and outfielder Heliot Ramos have the chance after strong 2024 campaigns.

While the lineup lacks power, there are at least a few players manager Bob Melvin can comfortably pencil into his lineup on a daily basis.

When it comes to the pitching staff, there are even more question marks.

The Giants have as reliable of an ace as anyone anchoring their staff with Logan Webb, but things behind him are shaky after co-ace Blake Snell opted to enter free agency and signed with the rival Los Angeles Dodgers.

To help offset that loss, the team signed future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander to a one-year, $15 million deal.

Coming off the least productive season of his career, the Giants should have some optimism the three-time Cy Young Award winner can produce at a serviceable level as long as he can stay healthy.

Him bouncing back would be a huge boost for San Francisco, but the player who is under the most pressure is another former Cy Young Award winner; Robbie Ray.

The talented lefty was acquired in an offseason trade ahead of the 2024 campaign from the Seattle Mariners as the teams swapped undesirable contracts. He was recovering from Tommy John surgery, which limited him to only seven starts.

His production wasn’t great, as he recorded a 4.70 ERA across 30.2 innings.

However, his stuff was still solid, as he struck out 42 batters. As shared by Thomas Harrigan of MLB.com, it is fair to believe he will step up in 2025 since some advanced stats paint a much better picture than his raw statistics.

“However, his underlying metrics paint a much more positive picture of his performance, with Ray notching outstading marks in whiff rate (36.0%), strikeout rate (33.3%) and expected batting average allowed (.180).”

The Giants have some solid depth for their starting rotation with Hayden Birdsong, Kyle Harrison and Jordan Hicks as options to round things out behind the three locked in veterans.

Alas, there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding that trio.

Ray has a good amount of his own, but if those metrics carry over into this year, he could return near to his Cy Young form in his age-33 campaign.

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