Giants Ace Starter Finally Getting Back to Previous Cy Young Form After Tough Year

The San Francisco Giants have been one of the stories of the early portion of the season across all of baseball, sitting third in the National League West despite having racked up 24 wins.

Entering the year, the Giants were seen as a team who did not have nearly enough pitching to contend, especially after missing out on the biggest fish on the market in terms of free agents.

In order to even have a shot at turning things around, San Francisco was always going to need increased levels of production from players who have not lived up to their potential before 2025.

The best example of that needed increase in production might just be veteran left-hander Robbie Ray.

The Giants took a risk when they traded for Ray prior to the 2024 season coming off Tommy John surgery and taking on his sizable contract.

Making his eventual return to the mound late last season, the results were mixed over his first seven starts with a 4.70 ERA. While not all of the numbers were there, his impressive 1.141 WHIP and 43 strikeouts in 30.2 innings pitched inspired hope that he could get back to form this season.

The 2021 American League Cy Young winner has done just that so far and become one of the most important arms on the team.

With an incredible 5-0 record over his first eight starts, Ray has pitched to a 2.84 ERA and 1.195 WHIP, seemingly getting better and better with each passing game.

Over the weekend, the 33-year-old helped the Giants earn a series victory over one of the best lineups in baseball, stunning the Chicago Cubs to the tune of six one-run, three-hit innings.

San Francisco is not relying on Ray to be their ace as he has had to be on other staffs throughout his career, they simply need him to be a reliable and steady fixture in the middle of the rotation.

Though the early returns were mixed both last season and the start of this year, the lefty certainly seems capable right now of being exactly that and potentially even more.

If Ray can return to his Cy Young form over the course of a full season, it will provide an immeasurable boost to this pitching staff in pursuit of just their third postseason appearance over the course of the last decade.