Ray Shines in Professional Debut

Corey Ray 7/4/16

Milwaukee Brewers 2016 first round pick Corey Ray made his professional debut Monday night with the Florida State League’s Brevard County Manatees. As if your pro debut isn’t big enough, Ray got to do it on July Fourth, in front of a sellout crowd of 5,760 fans.

“I thought there would be jitters, but my teammates kept me calm,” Ray said after the game. “They reminded me that it’s just a game and it felt good to get out there in front of a great crowd. They told me not to do too much, just to keep it simple and remember that it’s just baseball, the game I’ve been playing for 20 years.”

Ray officially went 0-for-3 on Monday, but he drove in what proved to be the winning run on a sacrifice fly in the seventh inning of an eventual 3-0 win over the Dunedin Blue Jays. The fifth overall pick in this years’ draft immediately made the jump to Advanced-A, skipping both rookie ball and Low-A.

“I haven’t seen live pitching in so long, I’m just wanting to get up there and see a few pitches and put some good swings on the baseball,” he said. “I didn’t really have any goals or expectations, just to compete at the plate and give my team a chance to win.”

Ray talked about wanting to see a few pitches, but he was the leadoff man in Monday night’s game and that meant he was not going to have the luxury of seeing pitches from the dugout and get feedback from his teammates before taking his swings. While that may seem like a disadvantage, it really wasn’t in Ray’s case. He swung at the first pitch he saw, out of the hand of Dunedin starter Francisco Rios.

“It’s always good to get that first one out of the way and he threw me a fastball that I felt I could do some damage with and it was a good pitch, a good swing, just right at the left fielder.

Ray struck out in his second at bat on a 3-2 count, but took some pitches that a lot of guys with a lot more experience likely would have swung at. “The 3-2 slider that I got today, I definitely wasn’t expecting that,” Ray said of the pitch. “You don’t see that too often and I got ahead on the pitcher and he just threw me three great pitches to get back in the at bat. I think these pitchers spot up and they throw everything for a strike, so it’ll be fun.”

Ray’s final at bat came with the bases loaded in the seventh inning against Dunedin reliever Brad Allen. He put another good swing on that ball and got it deep enough in center, to score the Manatees first run of the game and the only one they would need. “I’m just wanting to put a good swing on the ball and see what I can do to hopefully give my team the lead there and it worked out.”

Manatees manager Joe Ayrault gave a glowing review of Ray following the game. “He’s aggressive, you give him a pitch he can hit, he’s got good discipline up there and he’s aggressive, he’s gonna take his hacks. Made a great first impression, a great guy to have and I’m excited to have him.”

When asked if Ray seemed nervous at all to him, Ayrault didn’t think so. “He’s got the it factor,” he said. “Mindset, everything about him, you gotta love.”

In turn, Ray spoke very highly of Ayrault. “He’s been great. He tells me everything about the team and how to fit in here and what to do,” he said. “He just lets you play, no expectations, no pressure he just lets you play and he’s a great manager to play for.”

Ray said that Ayrault’s approach definitely makes things easier on him. “Knowing that you don’t have to get a hit every at bat; or there aren’t super high expectations for you, you can just go out there and let the game come to you and do whatever it is that you can do, I think that makes anybody better.”

While the expectations are tempered as far as his manager is concerned, Ray is aware that the expectations around baseball are pretty high. He was asked if he thought about that at all, or if it added to the pressure he felt.

“It doesn’t put any added pressure on, just going out there and having fun,” he said. “Everything will take care of itself. Whatever happens, happens. The big key is getting better every day, I’m not ready yet and I’m just trying to get acclimated to the speed of the game and the way that the pitchers pitch and the difference in the pro game and hopefully go out there and get better every single day that I can.”

This article originally appeared on 27OutsBaseball.com on 7/4/16