Arizona starter Robbie Ray is what he is at this point. He’ll get you plenty of strikeouts, walk a few batters, watch some balls fly over the fence, and end the year near a 4.00 ERA. Sure, in 2017, it was 2.89, but a better indicator is looking at his FIP and xFIP metrics. For his career, he has a 3.97 FIP and 4.11 ERA. He’s a fly ball pitcher in the juiced ball era that serves up plenty of hard contact, which isn’t ideal. However, with a K/9 above 11.00 each of the past four seasons, he gives you plenty of strikeouts to make up for other starters in your rotation that do not compile strikeouts in bunches. For example, if Zack Greinke is your ace, let Ray’s strikeouts boost Greinke, while Greinke’s lower ERA can offset Ray’s 4.00-plus mark.

 

His fly ball rate dropped to 37 percent last year, which is actually the lowest in the past three years. However, he served up a line drive 25.9 percent of the time. His hard contact rate was slightly lower than last year, but still...