Seattle Mariners LHP Robbie Ray to miss rest of 2023 season

The Seattle Mariners were dealt a big blow on Wednesday with news that veteran left-handed starting pitcher Robbie Ray will miss the rest of the season.

Ray, 31, made just one start this year before landing on the 10-day injured list with a flexor tendon strain in his left forearm. On Wednesday, it was announced that Ray will miss the remainder of the season as he needs surgery to repair that flexor tendon.

Here’s the news from Seattle Sports Mariners insider Shannon Drayer, who is with the team in Philadelphia:

Brutal news for Robbie Ray and the Mariners. He will undergo flexor tendon surgery and is out for the year.

— Shannon Drayer (@shannondrayer) April 26, 2023

Ray threw just 3 1/3 innings in his lone start this year, allowing five runs on four hits and five walks. He was placed on the injured list the very next day.

Ray joined the Seattle Mariners ahead of the 2022 season after winning the American League Cy Young Award in 2021 with the Toronto Blue Jays.

In his first season in Seattle, Ray made 32 starts, posting a 3.71 ERA in 189 innings pitched.

With Ray out, the Mariners turned to veteran right-hander Chris Flexen to fill the void in the starting rotation, and Flexen 10.38 ERA in four starts since joining the rotation.

Last year, Ray made all his scheduled starts for the Mariners, as did the rest of his rotation mates.

No Mariners starter landed on the injured list or missed a scheduled start in 2022, and outside of a few spot starts or bullpen starts due to doubleheaders, it was Ray, Flexen, Logan Gilbert, Marco Gonzales, George Kirby and Luis Castillo starting on the mound for the Mariners.

This marks just the fourth time in Ray’s MLB career he’s landed on the injured list, and it’s the first time because of an arm injury. The other times have been because of back and oblique injuries and a concussion.

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