How TCU’s Johnny Ray has emerged as the Horned Frogs’ best pitcher
Johnny Ray came to TCU as a thrower, a gifted thrower who could sit in the mid-90 mph range.
But throwing hard doesn’t always translate to success on the mound, which is why Ray is pleased with his early results and how he’s become more of a pitcher since arriving in Fort Worth.
“In the fall, I was a lot more of a thrower where I was just up there, running off adrenaline and just trying to chuck the ball,” Ray said. “Now I have a better feel for my stuff. I know I’ve got to pitch at the knees, so I’ve toned up my delivery to throw multiple pitches for strikes.”
The early signs are encouraging for Ray and TCU’s baseball team. The Horned Frogs had an open competition for pitching jobs this spring, and Ray emerged as the ace of the staff.
The redshirt sophomore right-hander pitched well enough in spring practices to earn the opening-day nod, and backed it up with a solid Division I debut by allowing one run over 4 2/3 innings against Kentucky in the season opener last Friday.
Ray is scheduled to make his second start at Minnesota on Saturday as TCU opens a three-game series against Minnesota at U.S. Bank Stadium, the indoor home of the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings.
The Golden Gophers are expected to open the series with hard-throwing right-hander Max Meyer.
For TCU, the hope is that Ray builds on his debut. Even though he had a promising start, Ray had three walks on Friday and he failed to get through five innings on a 90-pitch limit.
“He’s going to have to be more efficient with his pitches if he wants to stay out there longer,” TCU coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “The Catch-22 with this team is we have good pitching depth. Your depth only plays for you if you use it. To have them be effective, I have to use them. To use them, I can’t let the starter go deep. But we’ll let guys stretch out. We’ll let Ray go to 90-100 pitches.”
But TCU is also going to monitor Ray closely in an effort to keep him healthy throughout the season. This is a guy who was limited to eight innings with an oblique strain last season at John A. Logan College, a junior college in Illinois. Ray didn’t pitch in 2018 at Illinois State.
For now, so far so good. Ray and TCU couldn’t have scripted a better start to the season. The Frogs are 4-0 and will be looking to carry that momentum into their first road trip of the season.
“This is going to be a tough trip for us,” Schlossnagle said. “Minnesota is picked No. 2 in the Big Ten. But when you take your team on the road, you really grow together. It’s going to be fun to be with them for three or four days.”
