SAN DIEGO — The first trade of Robbie Ray’s career came before his MLB debut and the second came a year later, when he had just 28 big league innings under his belt. It was six years before the next one, and he followed that deal by winning a Cy Young Award for his new team. The fourth trade of his career happened while he was recovering from Tommy John surgery. The fifth almost certainly will be finalized over the next four days, and it might be the Giants pitcher’s last. Ray is 34 now, and he has a large family. He is close to reaching the point where every offseason will be spent wondering if he wants to go through the grind again, or trade it all in for rides to Little League and soccer practice.
But for any scouts who were watching Thursday night, he made sure to show that he’s not there yet.
If this was Ray’s final start with the Giants, he went out on a high note, and he certainly showed that there’s plenty left in that arm. Ray gave up just one run over six innings in a 4-1 win over the San Diego Padres, and when they put a runner on in his final frame, he reached back for 95 mph to blow away Manny Machado....