TCU baseball is counting on Johnny Ray once again to establish himself as the ace
At this time a year ago, TCU right-hander Johnny Ray didn’t know where he’d be pitching in 2021. Maybe he’d land somewhere in the MLB Draft and be starting his professional career at a spring training site in Florida or Arizona this month.
But then the COVID-19 pandemic hit and cut short the college baseball season in mid-March. MLB reduced its draft to five rounds in the summer. The baseball world, like most industries, had been turned upside down.
So, instead of flirting with a potential pro career following his redshirt freshman season at TCU, Ray decided to join most of his teammates in similar situations by returning to school. Every senior on the Frogs’ 2020 roster made the same decision.
“If there would’ve been a full season and the draft wouldn’t have gotten cut back to five rounds, there’s a more likely chance I would have gone,” Ray said. “But, given the circumstances and knowing what I was coming back to at TCU, it made the decision a lot easier. At the end of the day, coming to TCU is the best decision I’ve made in my entire life. I’m super excited about this season.”
Ray and the Frogs believe this year’s team has the opportunity to do something special. The pitching staff is loaded. The lineup is loaded. It’s a deep and talented team.
Ray ranks among the most talented on the roster, earning the Opening Day nod for the second straight season. The hard-throwing right-hander will make his season debut against Ole Miss on Saturday afternoon in the State Farm College Baseball Showdown at Globe Life Field in Arlington. First-pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.
“I’m ready to go,” Ray said. “The weather this week hasn’t really changed anything as far as my routine. I threw 90 pitches in a simulated game in the indoor [facility] last Friday. The extra day isn’t going to be a huge factor, so everything is lining up for it to be a great opening weekend.”
Ray earned TCU’s Opening Day nod for the 2020 season, too, but pitched in just four games before the season ended amid the pandemic. He pitched well, though, posting a 2.53 ERA with 21 strikeouts in 21 1/3 innings.
Better things are on the horizon for Ray following a successful offseason. He touched 98 mph during an intersquad game in the fall, a personal best, and has been consistently sitting in the 92 mph to 95 mph range with his two-seam and four-seam fastball.
Ray is also excited about the progress he’s made with his changeup, which is arguably his best off-speed pitch from a season ago. And it’s even better now. His repertoire also includes a curveball.
“I’d say, from last year to this year, I’m more confident with where I’m at,” Ray said. “I feel super confident in all of my stuff.”
Ray is confident in his teammates as well.
The Frogs had no players land on the preseason All-Big 12 team, but that’s more of a sign that it’s an unproven team than an untalented team. As TCU coach Jim Schlossnagle has pointed out multiple times this offseason, the weekend rotation of Ray, Russell Smith and Austin Krob has combined for just one Big 12 start — that being Smith against West Virginia in the 2018 Big 12 tournament.
“We’re in a really unique situation,” Schlossnagle said. “We’re one of the older teams in the country, but we’re pretty inexperienced. Our job is to go out there and have a good season and let the rest of that stuff take care of itself.”
Ray is ready to lead that charge. He earned the Opening Day nod by emerging as TCU’s workhorse in the offseason and is ready to build off his promising start in 2020.
“We had some really good competition for the rotation,” Ray said. “It was really cool for me to get the Opening Day nod again. It just showed that all the hard work I put in over the past year is paying off.”
