Brewers prospect looks ahead
Ray is optimistic after injury-plagued season
PHOENIX – After a challenging 2019 season, Corey Ray is back in another Milwaukee Brewers spring training camp with an optimistic attitude and a desire to crack the club’s major league roster for the first time in his career.
Ray, who the Brewers selected with the fifth overall pick of the 2016 draft, exudes talent but bounced among the team’s minor league affiliates for his first three seasons.
He struggled during much of 2019 after suffering a finger injury near the end of spring training.
“His ability is off the charts,” said Brewers catcher Tuffy Gosewisch, a teammate of Ray’s last season with the Brewers’ Class AAA affiliate in San Antonio. “You see him run and throw. He’s got all of the tools without a doubt. Any time you have an athlete on the field like that, it’s fun to watch.”
That talent appeared to have Ray on track for the big leagues in 2018, his best season when the left-handed-hitting outfielder batted .239 but had a careerbest .801 OPS and slugged 32 doubles, seven triples and 27 home runs in 135 games at the Brewers’ Class AA team in Biloxi, Mississippi. He was named Southern League most valuable player that season.
He struggled in 2019 and didn’t play at all between May 21 and July 3. He was on the seven-day injured list twice, spent time on the club’s temporary inactive list and went to the Arizona League on a rehab assignment. He finally returned to Biloxi in July and then was promoted to San Antonio at the start of August.
After all of that, it’s little wonder that Ray is trying to remain positive and absorb as much as he can from this Cactus League camp.
“From an offensive standpoint, you are around a big-league staff for the whole spring,” Ray said. “From a defensive standpoint, you are around some of the best defenders in the game. You learn a lot of tricks of the trade in the outfield.”
Brewers manager Craig Counsell wants to see as much of a healthy Ray as possible this spring.
“With Corey, I think spring training is important for him, plate appearances, at-bats. You’re going to see him a lot.” Counsell said. “Any guys coming off injury seasons, getting them on the field as much as we can and monitoring health is really important.”
His teammates are anxious to see what Ray can do when fully healthy, too.
“He’s just a freak athlete,” said Tyrone Taylor, who shared the outfield with Ray last season in San Antonio. “He’s a good teammate also, which is the best part. To see that all come together is pretty cool and I look forward to seeing him play.”
Ray is now fully healthy and ready to make an impact.
“I feel great,” he said. “I’m trying to stay limber, trying to lift more in-season so that I do have that strength at the end of the season.”
In a crowded outfield that includes former National League most valuable player Christian Yelich and 2019 Gold Glove winner Lorenzo Cain, a spot on the big-league roster will be difficult. Ryan Braun is expected to see time at first base and in the outfield, and the Brewers signed Avisail Garcia to a twoyear deal during the offseason. Ben Gamel, acquired in a winter 2018 trade, also is in the mix.
Instead of seeing the logjam as an impassable obstacle, Ray tries to learn as much as he can from the others. He is especially focused on everything Cain does.
“I’m a centerfielder, he’s a centerfielder,” Ray said. “He won a Gold Glove last year, and throughout his career he’s been known as a really good defensive outfielder. And that’s what I hope to be.”
Gosewich believes that it’s just a matter of time before Ray reaches the big leagues if he continues to focus on his craft every day.
“(The key) is consistency,” Gosewich said. “Coming in and making sure that he does his work every day and not letting an opportunity to get better get away from him.”
TJ Mathewson is a senior majoring in sports journalism at Arizona State University. This story is a part of a partnership between the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.