[外電] Ray ready to help O's wherever needed
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Ray ready to help O's wherever needed
Righty reliever has been working on mechanics for past month
By Spencer Fordin / MLB.com / 06/23/09 7:18 PM ET
MIAMI -- The exile is over. Erstwhile closer Chris Ray returned to the Major
Leagues on Tuesday, when the Orioles chose to promote the right-hander from
Triple-A Norfolk. Ray, who struggled in his first two months with Baltimore,
went down to Norfolk for a month to further iron out his mechanics.
"He's staying behind the ball better," Baltimore manager Dave Trembley said.
"His delivery is better [and] the finish on his pitches is better. But more
importantly, his confidence is really good. He feels good about himself and
we did get very good reports from the pitching coach down there."
The right-hander missed all of the 2008 season while recovering from ligament
replacement surgery on his right elbow, and he looked dominant in Spring
Training before taking a misstep in the regular season. Ray worked to a 9.17
ERA in his first 17 appearances, and the Orioles felt he would be better
served at Norfolk.
"It's not demoralizing," Ray said. "It's part of the game. If you're not
performing up here, they've got to get someone up here who can. There's no
point in keeping me up when I'm struggling like that. You may as well get me
down there, get some innings in with no pressure and be able to extend me to
two innings."
Ray pitched to a 2.25 ERA in eight games for Norfolk, assuring the Orioles
that he's found a comfort zone. And now, the Orioles need to work him back
into their bullpen, finding a spot for an arm that boasts 49 career saves.
Ray will likely be forced to work in the middle innings until he demonstrates
success.
And if you ask him, he really does not care about his role. Ray said Tuesday
that he's just happy to have found his arm slot, and he cited an appearance
against Triple-A Louisville with helping him find his comfort zone. Ray said
that he'd tried all spring to find a consistent arm slot, only to have it
click into place last Monday.
"It was weird," he said. "I spent so much time in the bullpen concentrating
on the arm slot, and then I go out there, didn't think about it and just
threw and it was there. Everything feels natural. It was a pretty amazing
feeling.
"That entire appearance, I threw only fastballs," he continued. "I wanted to
keep doing it over and over. Then the next time, I threw some sliders and got
some strikeouts. It was nice."
For his part, Trembley chose not to pigeonhole when he'd use Ray. The former
third-round draftee will be mixed and matched whenever the Orioles need him,
and Trembley may even use him for multi-inning appearances. Right now, all
that seems certain is that the Orioles don't have a situational southpaw to
use in the late innings.
"We'll go with what we have right now," said Trembley. "I'm sure everybody
will be in tuned to see how it develops. If the need arises, then we'll try
to do whatever we can to make it better. But right now, we're going with what
we have. Hopefully, we won't be in situations where it's so critical."
Ray took special satisfaction in his success for Norfolk and said he hopes it
will translate against big-league batters.
"When you go down there and you're able to get guys out on a consistent basis
-- to be able to put together back-to-back-to-back good appearances -- it
kinds of gets the ball rolling and gets you on a roll," he said.
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