Sonny Gray had just won his American League-leading 15th game of the season when the veteran Boston Red Sox right-hander took a moment to put one foot in the past while keeping one foot in the present.
Gray defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates last Saturday night, pitching seven shutout innings to improve his record to 15-3 and lower his ERA to 2.65 through 23 starts. The win established a career high after he'd previously reached 14 victories three different times — and in addition to topping the AL in wins, he is fourth in ERA. That is impressive for a 36-year-old, and makes him a dark horse candidate to win his first Cy Young Award.
On July 10, 2013, Gray made his MLB debut and pitched two scoreless relief innings for the then-Oakland Athletics against the Pirates at PNC Park. Gray recalled that game in vivid detail when I asked if he would have believed he would set a career-high for wins 13 years later in the same ballpark.
“There's no way in hell I thought I'd be playing 13 years after that,” Gray said with a smile. “I was like, give me 10 years, I'm done with the game.”
How Sonny Gray is only getting better with age
However, Gray is far from finished despite his advancing age. The three-year, $75 million contract he signed with the St. Louis Cardinals during the 2023-23 offseason expires at the end of this season. But while Gray has made over $130 million during his career, he wants to keep playing.
“I like pitching, getting people out and figuring out different ways to do it, but also just remembering who I am at my core,” Gray said. “I like winning even more than I like pitching, and that is what is making this so enjoyable.”
The Red Sox have a firm grip on the second American League Wild Card spot thanks to a shocking midsummer surge. Gray is scheduled to start when the Red Sox open a three-game home series against the San Francisco Giants on Friday night at Fenway Park.
Boston acquired Gray from the Cardinals in a trade during the offseason, and he has become an indispensable part of the team, taking over as the ace of the pitching staff when left-hander Garrett Crochet was placed on the IL with left shoulder inflammation on April 29.
Crochet hopes to return in mid-September but will be used as a reliever when he does, as he will not have enough time to regain full stamina and arm strength on a potential Minor League rehab assignment.
Sonny Gray has stepped up as Red Sox ace without Garrett Crochet
Having a veteran such as Gray also balances a rotation that has two rookie left-handers in Payton Tolle and Jake Bennett.
“What Sonny has done as far as leading our rotation, you cannot understate how important that's been, especially with some of the kids in there,” Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy said. “Sonny approaches every outing like he’s the stopper; it’s the same level of intensity every time. I think he understands the responsibility, too, of when the team's going through it, when we do need a good outing, there’s no real question about it that I think that's a little extra there.”
Gray modestly shrugs off his importance to the rotation.
“I'm just trying to be myself. I'm not trying to be anyone other than who I am,” Gray said. “Obviously, Garrett is very missed. He's an electric guy, just with his personality alone. He's a dude, right? But I'm just trying to be myself. That’s all I can be.”
Gray has put together a fine career, winning 140 games and being selected to three All-Star Games. He should have been in this year’s Midsummer Classic but was inexplicably left off the AL roster despite being 11-1 at the time.
Impressively, Gray has transitioned from hard thrower to master craftsman as he has gotten older.
“He's doing it differently than he did years ago,” Tracy said. “With less velo now, but he has that great sinker and the ability to move it around, front door, and back door and spin to both sides. He pitches. It's impressive to watch him do that.”
Add us as a preferred source on Google