In 2020, the Toronto Blue Jays acquired Robbie Ray in a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks, bringing in a pitcher with a 7.84 ERA and later signing him to a one-year deal.
Fast forward to Wednesday night and Ray brought home the American League Cy Young award as a precursor to a potential $100 million-plus offseason.
Ray closed as the betting favorite to win the award, and was a finalist alongside New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole and Chicago White Sox starter Lance Lynn.
On the last day of the regular season, Ray was a -280 favorite at FanDuel. Cole was +230. Lynn was the longshot at +1100.
But for most of the season, it was Cole's award to lose. He was the odds-on favorite on September 15 after opening the year as the favorite. In fact, Ray wasn't even on the radar until August.
As a result, sportsbooks didn't have to sweat many Ray tickets. However, at least one bettor cashed big. According to data released by PointsBet, one Ray bet paid out $100,000 off a bet placed in July at +8000 odds. The wager was $1,250.
It was a slow start for the lefty, who surrendered 10 home runs in May, leading to a 4.60 ERA, his highest in any month. But he went on a tear in the summer, finishing June with a 2.86 ERA, July with a 1.99 ERA and August with a 1.76 ERA.
As Cole faltered, Ray did enough to hang on in August and September with a 3.44 ERA in the month and 46 strikeouts in 34 innings.
Ray's final numbers: 13-7 record with a 2.84 ERA while leading the AL with 32 starts, 193 1/3 innings and 248 strikeouts.
Both the AL and NL Cy Young awards were announced Wednesday at 6 p.m. ET on MLB Network. The NL finalists are Milwaukee's Corbin Burnes, Max Scherzer of the Dodgers and Philadelphia's Zack Wheeler.
