Blue Jays acquire Ray, Villar, Stripling

Photo: Toronto Blue Jays/Twitter

August 31, 2020

By Andrew Hendriks

Roughly two hours shy of the 2020 non-waiver trade deadline, the Toronto Blue Jays and Arizona Diamondbacks came together on a deal that sends LHP Robbie Ray to the American League in exchange for LHP Travis Bergen.

A veteran of seven big league campaigns dating back to his rookie year in 2014, Ray, 28, has pitched to a cumulative ERA of 4.25 with 1,017 strikeouts against 387 walks. All but three of his 156 big league appearances have come as a starter.

Generally consistent throughout his career, Ray has struggled across his first seven starts in 2020. The former All-Star (2017) joins Toronto having walked the most batters (31) in the National League this season, allowing the most earned runs (27) while also throwing the highest number of wild pitches (6) in the senior circuit.

Part of Ray's struggles is due to the fact that he has allowed a 10.1% uptick in the number of fly balls surrendered across his first 31 innings on the year. Additionally, his solid contact percentage has jumped from 5.9 to 15.2 this season, while his overall chase percentage is down from 30.0 to 22.1.

With a five-pitch arsenal, the former 12th-round draft pick is throwing harder than he was in 2019, averaging 93.9 mph on his fastball while checking in at 86.2 on the slider. Respectively, those pitches averaged 92.4 and 84.2 in 2019. Ray also features a curveball, changeup, and sinker.

The boost in velocity, coupled with a lack of overall control within the strike zone, suggests that Ray's issues could be more mechanical than physical. With this in mind, the Blue Jays are banking on the club's ability to get him right under the tutelage of Pete Walker.

Signed to a one-year, $9,430,000 deal, Ray will hit the free-agent market for the first time this November.

Re-acquired by the Blue Jays after being designated for assignment by the San Francisco Giants on August 18, 2019, Bergen appeared in one game with the Blue Jays this season, throwing 1 2/3 innings of shutout ball.

Jays land Villar from Marlins

The Toronto Blue Jays have teamed up with the Miami Marlins to make a deadline deal that sends INF Jonathan Villar north in exchange MiLB OF, Griffin Conine.

Villar, 29, has slashed .261/.328/.406 with 231 extra-base hits and a total of 211 steals in 270 attempts dating back to his big-league debut with the Houston Astros in 2013.

Predominately appearing as a middle infielder, the versatile switch-hitting product of La Vega, D.R has also spent time at third base, centre field, and left field throughout his MLB career.

At the time of Monday's deal, Villar had hit .259 with a National League-best nine stolen bases in 30 games this season.

With Bo Bichette recovering from a knee sprain, Villar will see most of his playing time at shortstop for now, with more starts coming at third base once Toronto's 22-year-old phenom returns from the 10-day Injured List in September.

Traded to the Miami Marlins last January, Villar, barring a possible contract extension in Toronto, will head to the free-agent market for the first time this fall.

Conine, 23, was a second-round draft pick of the Blue Jays in 2018. Through 137 minor league games between the Gulf Coast Blue Jays, Vancouver Canadians, and Lansing Lugnuts, Conine has slashed .266/.348/.515 with 67 extra-base hits across 587 plate appearances.

The son of Jeff Conine, who appeared in parts of eight seasons with the Fish between 1993-97, Griffin was initially selected by the Marlins in the 32nd-round of the 2015 June Amateur Draft. Rather than signing, he attended Duke instead.

Stripling picked up from Dodgers

After trading for both INF Johnathan Villar and RHP Robbie Ray, the Blue Jays capped off the 2020 non-waiver trade deadline by sending a pair of players to be named later to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange RHP, Ross Stripling.

Stripling, 30, has appeared in 59 games since breaking in with the Dodgers in 2016, posting a cumulative ERA of 3.68 with 404 strikeouts and 102 walks across 420 2/3 innings dating back to his MLB debut in 2015.

An all-star in 2018, the 6-foot-3 product of Bluebell, Pa., features a five-pitch mix that leans heavily on a low nineties fastball and a curveball that sits around 79 mph. He also has a changeup, slider, and a rarely used sinker.

In seven starts with the 26-10 Dodgers this season, Stripling has gone 3-1 with a WHIP of 1.419 across 33 2/3frames. The former fifth-round draft pick (2012) has also allowed a National League-high 12 home runs on the season, which has his 2020 HR/9 up to 3.2 over the 2.0 mark he surrendered in 2019.

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