The Nats face a player they are very familiar with tonight. Robbie Ray was the Nats’ 12th round draft pick out of Brentwood High School in 2010. Ray was a fast riser in the Nats system, and he became the centerpiece of the Doug Fister trade with Detroit. The Tigers subsequently traded the lefty to the Arizona Diamondbacks as part of a three-team trade.
Robbie Ray has been inconsistent so far in his career and has struggled with command. Ray is lefty power pitcher and averages 96mph with his fastball, and he throws a reach-back heater at 98mph. His fastball will move from 92 to 98mph in a game. His secondary pitch is a slider, and he will throw a few slurves. Ray will issue walks, and give up some location mistakes that get hit far.
Tanner Roark starts for the Nationals, and Dusty Baker had this to say about him earlier, “He’s built kind of like Roger Clemens a little bit, and the guy’s got some big….you know…..guts.”
Ryan Zimmerman is out of the line-up again tonight as he nurses his injured wrist. There is still no mention of Zimmerman’s availability off of the bench. We do not know if he took batting practice, but he did take grounders at first base during BP.
Here are the Nats stats against Ray:
Here is Tanner Roark’s stats against the Diamondbacks:
Washington Nationals and Arizona Diamondbacks
Stadium: Chase Field, Arizona
1st Pitch: 9:40 pm EDT
TV: MASN, FOX Sports, MLB.tv
Line-ups (subject to change without notice):
- Trea Turner CF
- Jayson Werth LF
- Daniel Murphy 1B
- Anthony Rendon 3B
- Wilson Ramos C
- Chris Heisey RF
- Danny Espinosa SS
- Wilmer Difo 2B
- Tanner Roark RHP
Bryce Harper was scratched with illness.
