Robbie Ray’s Return to Toronto Is a Reminder of What the Blue Jays Let Slip Away
It’s always a bit surreal when a former fan-favorite returns to face their old team, and that’s exactly what we’re getting with Robbie Ray this weekend. As the San Francisco Giants wrap up their first post-All-Star break series against the Toronto Blue Jays, Ray will be taking the mound on Sunday—ironically at Rogers Centre, where he once electrified fans and won the 2021 AL Cy Young Award.
Ray’s journey since leaving Toronto has been a rollercoaster. After his dominant 2021 season with the Blue Jays, which included a 2.84 ERA and a league-leading 248 strikeouts, Toronto let him walk in free agency. He signed with the Seattle Mariners, and while he didn’t quite return to his Cy Young form in Seattle—partly due to injuries—the potential always lingered. Fast forward to 2025, and he’s once again looking like one of the most reliable arms in baseball. His first-half stats with the Giants this season are nothing short of excellent: a 9-3 record, a 2.65 ERA, and an All-Star nod. He’s also riding a streak of 16 consecutive starts allowing three earned runs or fewer, posting a 2.35 ERA over that stretch.
Watching Ray now, it’s hard not to wonder: did the Blue Jays make a mistake letting him go?
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Sure, Toronto tried to fill the void with Kevin Gausman and Yusei Kikuchi. While Gausman had a strong 2022, Kikuchi never really found consistent footing. Meanwhile, Ray—even if not always dominant—was a missing left-handed anchor the Jays desperately could’ve used over the past few years. What stung most? In 2022, Ray was part of the Mariners squad that eliminated the Blue Jays in the Wild Card series. Talk about poetic—and painful—justice.
While both Robbie Ray and Matt Chapman have returned to Toronto this weekend as Giants, it’s clear who’s had the stronger resurgence. Chapman brought elite defense during his stint in Toronto and even earned another Gold Glove in San Francisco. But offensively, his production has been inconsistent. Ray, on the other hand, is now once again performing at an elite level—and doing it as a vital part of a playoff contender.
Sometimes in baseball, hindsight is everything. And as Robbie Ray stands tall on that mound in Rogers Centre once more, the Blue Jays—and their fans—might be left wondering what might’ve happened had they just kept one of the best arms they ever had.
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