Eccentric and inconsistent, Sonny Gray disappoints in first Cardinals season
When they need him most, he fails.
Sonny Gray isn’t your typical ace. He doesn’t own multiple Cy Young awards nor does he carry a stat sheet that would blow baseball fans’ minds, but he has become super dependable since adding a sweeper to his arsenal in recent seasons. 2024 painted Gray as the “ace” that St. Louis needed, but setting an expectation and meeting it are two different beasts.
Just ask Sonny, who is the rare pitcher in today’s game who will tell the manager that he is done in a game. It’s almost as if pitching coaches aren’t needed with Gray starting a game; he knew when to stop and go. It’s a weird idea to digest, especially when 95% of starters never want to leave a game they still have to pulse in. I used to think Tony La Russa needed secret service detail when he went to pull Chris Carpenter from a game. Gray, on more than one occasion this season, has asked to leave a game because he thought his arm was out of bullets. It’s just different, fitting for an eccentric pitcher.
Gray is a step apart from most minds whose office is a pitching mound. Think about it. Unlike everyone except for the catcher, a pitcher can move around too much or let their focus drift in a game. The level of focus seems to match with a zen master, or at least a person attempting the mental balance feat. Gray takes the concept and goes all bed, bath, and way beyond wirh it.
Gray’s postgame pressers sound like something Matthew McConaughey would write, getting more into the metaphysics than the actual emotions and feelings of a physical job. You sort of understand what he’s saying, but find yourself drifting to another easier to understand topic. It’s all good: There a Lance Lynn wit and a Gray train of thought, all part of being unique and different. But results are a key part of that equation. You can be colorful as long as you are productive. That’s something Sonny is still trying to make sunny in St. Louis.
Smooth ride isn’t a term I’d use to describe his first (of three) seasons here. Gray’s spring training was basically erased with a hamstring injury, but his first half was strong. He would leave a start or two after only 70-85 pitches, but the glass half full version of that tactic was saving his arm for a playoff push and eating a grain of salt for his missing spring warmup. For a couple handfuls of starts, he was that guy St. Louis went shopping for in the offseason. He can be devastating when locked in, but Gray can be a batting practice arm when off.
He’s allowed 20 home runs after surrendering two in last night’s loss to Minnesota. With a month-plus left in the season, that’s a heavy handful for a supposed ace. While Gray is being paid like a #3-4 rotation guy this year ($10 million), the fee increases by 150% next year. What will the performance look like then?
Here’s the worst thing: The timing. Gray’s rotation spot has come around in crucial times for the past 2 months, and the result isn’t what the team had in mind. After holding the fort against Los Angeles on Sunday, Gray fell apart last night. Three starts ago in Cincinnati opening a series, he was blasted by the Reds. It’s not rough; more like a disappointing result for the hype attached to an arm like Gray.
If you look at his strikeouts to walks rate and the analytics on his pitches, the results should be a lot better than a guy with a 4.06 ERA on the season. A few truly rough starts in the second half have derailed his overall campaign. Gray over his last 15 starts: 4.92 ERA with 108 strikeouts and just 24 walks. Mind boggling due to what it could be, but frustrated by what it is.
All Cardinals fans can hope for are the metrics evening out in 2025 and 2026. While he may be more eccentric and out there with his pitching philosophies (mark him down for a pitching coach job after his retirement) and lacks the true polish of an ace, Gray has left the door open for some higher ground in the future. Less home runs, and the same amount of everything else.
It’s just a shame, or as my wise friend Andy Karandzieff called the “real” Cardinal Way, that Gray couldn’t be more of a stopper this season. Along with slumping veterans Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado, he’s been a disappointment at the worst time.
Thanks for reading this latest dispatch, written while facing a gulf of water here in Sarasota, Florida. It’s not a bad vacation office. You can take me out of the state, but the writer will stick around.
