‘They’re not sick of me yet’: Ray’s early rehab days filled with family
DETROIT — Robbie Ray is itching to get again — however not for the rationale you may assume.
“I said [to Mariners teammates] that if they don’t start hitting better, I’m going to have to come back,” Ray stated jokingly earlier than Saturday’s sport in opposition to the Tigers in his first media availability since present process Tommy John surgical procedure and a left flexor tendon restore on May 3. “They’re going to need my bat in the lineup.”
Seattle appears to have taken Ray’s ribbing to coronary heart, churning out 9 runs within the collection opener. Meeting the workforce for the collection in Michigan, Ray emphasised that whereas he’s early in what will likely be a prolonged rehab course of, he’s decided to take issues day-to-day, grinding via an absence prone to final round 14-18 months.
“It’s going to get long, and it’s going to feel like some days, it’s just never going to get better,” Ray stated. “But I think for me, it’s just reaching that next milestone. Having a milestone each week … it gives you something to look forward to.”
The resolution to have surgical procedure wasn’t as robust because it may have been. Ray has recognized pitchers who’ve struggled with the method, however he wasn’t certainly one of them. When he met with docs, there was no agonizing over the selection between rehab and surgical procedure, and no want for a second opinion to additional complicate the choice. Ray acquired the news lower and dry: “You need surgery.”
In the second season of a five-year, $115 million contract, Ray’s rehab course of has barely gotten began. So far, he’s working totally on wrist and hand actions, and has began regularly straightening his left arm.
“It’s definitely a little weird, having to have someone straighten your arm out,” he stated. “But it’s going really well.”
While he works his manner again, Ray is following the recommendation he’s gotten from fellow pitchers who’ve returned from prolonged surgical procedures: Enjoy the time with household.
“They’re not sick of me yet,” he stated. “It’s nice, being able to take my kids to school, being able to pick them up, being able to hang out with them, stuff that you don’t get to do on a normal basis. It’s nice getting a glimpse into that for the next 14 months or so, getting to spend some quality time with them. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to. So I definitely am enjoying my family and my kids, being able to be around and watch them grow up.”
He’s having fun with his household. One factor he doesn’t plan to do, although, is spend any time teaching youth baseball.
“No, I’m not a coach,” he stated. “I want to be dad.”
