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Veteran Starter Has Become Invaluable Asset for San Francisco Giants
May 25, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Robbie Ray (38) pitches against the Washington Nationals during the second inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Veteran Starter Has Become Invaluable Asset for San Francisco Giants

Originally posted on San Francisco Giants on SI
By Jacob Moss  |  Last updated May 26, 2025 7:01 PM ET

The San Francisco Giants have positioned themselves as one of the National League's best teams through the first quarter of the 2025 season, and they've largely done so with very little consistency from the starting rotation.

A combination of injuries and lackluster production has forced the Giants to shuffle around that unit much more than they would ideally have liked to.

It's also made the resurgence of veteran lefty Robbie Ray invaluable to the team as a result.

As of this writing, Ray has a perfect 7-0 record on the bump to go along with a 2.56 ERA and a 1.153 WHIP. That 7-0 mark is the best in the entire NL, and he's also tied for the MLB lead in total starts.

This steady presence behind team ace Logan Webb has provided much-needed stability for skipper Bob Melvin, who has been forced to navigate around the temporary loss of Justin Verlander to injury and the relegation of Jordan Hicks to the bullpen.

After dealing with his own injury woes over the past two seasons, Ray appeared to turn back the clock in 2025 and regained his 2021 AL Cy Young Award-winning form.

He's also formed one of the best one-two punches in all of baseball with Webb.

It's hard to imagine what San Francisco would look like without Ray's elite production this season, but it certainly would not be a pretty picture.

After him, the Giants have been shuffling around several young and largely unproven arms to fill in the gaps left over by Verlander's placement on the IL.

Subtracting Ray from this equation likely means the Giants have to make do with just one proven starter, which history shows can spell disaster for teams trying to compete for postseason glory.

This means that Ray has, in many ways, become the lynchpin nobody really expected him to be for San Francisco's early success in 2025.

Now, they'll rely on the veteran to maintain his production down the stretch as they chase down their first division title since 2021.

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This article first appeared on San Francisco Giants on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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