Sonny Gray is exactly what the Cardinals needed; it's too bad he can't be cloned
He is fearless in attacking the strike zone and never wavers, candid in his readiness.
Last night in the sixth inning, Sonny Gray hit a brick wall, figuratively speaking. He was gassed, a combination of extra “high pressure” pitches and the intense spring-summerish weather pounding on your lungs every single second on the mound. Gray motioned for manager Oli Marmol, admitting he was about out of bullets. Marmol responded with a pitching change, and the Cards snatched the series-starter with the mighty Baltimore Orioles.
That’s the kind of seasoned chef Mr. Gray is not only on the pitching mound, but in the general philosophy of athleticism and pitching stamina. There wasn’t an ounce of John Lackey stubborn grit or a showy pitcher with an overzealous recognition of the game. Gray just knew it was time. If John Mozeliak deserves praise amongst the foolhardiness of his ways, it’s the signing of a premium top of the rotation arm.
If U2 was singing in the background, one could easily say that Gray is what the Cardinals direly needed these past couple seasons. A successor to the great Adam Wainwright, who maybe one day will call games with Chip Caray. Gray, signed for three years with an extra one sitting in an option, fits the bill.
He’s a stopper when the team needs a redirection in the results department, an extension of a hot streak as well. He’s whatever the team and game on the schedule needs him to be. Even when the Milwaukee Brewers got to him, he didn’t just drown in a puddle of tears and fears; he emptied the tank. That’s what he did against a rock solid Orioles team that came into Monday night’s game with a 29-15 record. Gray helped hand them a loss.
Heck, the only reason Baltimore snatched a few runs off Gray was due to a couple of errors from Masyn Winn--even if Brendan Donovan should have called him off on the shallow fly ball. The following bobble of a grounder from the defensively gifted Winn cost the Cardinals, leading to a three-run game-tightening home run. It could have gotten worse if Gray tried to stay on the horse for too long.
Maybe he just knows himself very well. Gray loves to pound the strike zone with all of his pitches no matter which innings or the grade of hitter, fearlessly going after a spot that a player could get into one. Perhaps the man knew his tendencies if he had tried to complete six innings.
Nevertheless, through eight starts, he still shows genuine ace material with a 2.87/3.00 earned run average and fielding independent pitching split, including a staggering 11.3 strikeouts per nine innings. If you like ERA+, a stat that is akin to the regular ERA but is park-adjusted, Gray is 43 points above the average score, which is 100.
If there are a few top shelf positives of this so far very disappointing start to the 2024 season, the pitching gets most of the marks. Gray’s work combined with Kyle Gibson’s nice start, mixing in with an elite closer in Ryan Helsley. Masyn Winn has been impressive and Willson Contreras was hitting everything before his ulna bone fracture, but they haven’t touched as high of a ceiling as their pitcher counterparts.
That’s fine. Let the pitching roar for a change. Last year, it was what the team badly needed. This year, they somehow need it even more. Thankfully, Sonny Gray came along. The real question is, “can we clone him and make him an outfielder and pitcher?”
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