The Red Sox have a new top of the rotation arm in Sonny Gray, who has put up a career ERA+ of 117 in 13 seasons. But it hasn’t always been pretty. The nadir of his career came in 2018, when Gray fell flat on his face in his lone full season with the Yankees. But if you’re worried that he can’t handle the AL East, know that the man himself is not. Gray waived his no-trade clause in order to sanction the move and told Craig Breslow that he’s excited to come to Boston. (Christopher Smith, MassLive)
And Craig Breslow is excited about him, too, saying “he’s a guy who has pitched in the front of rotations. Those things that pitchers carry from year to year are strikeout rates and walk rates and the ability to stay off barrels, he excels there. We’re really excited about a guy who is coming off back-to-back 200-strikeout seasons and shouldering significant workloads.” (Alex Speier, Boston Globe)
And there are two other things to really like about Gray: his durability, as he’s made at least 24 starts in every season since 2019, and the fact that he limits pull-side damage against right-handed hitters. (Jen McCaffrey, The Athletic)
And here’s a scouting report that notes that he’s improved his control as he’s aged, and that “his ERA last year of 4.28 was much worse than his peripherals because he was awful with men on base, especially with men in scoring position. That hadn’t been an issue for him previously; it’s probably a combination of bad luck and hitters hunting that four-seamer, which he used much less often with men on base but which still accounted for a significant amount of the damage he gave up in those spots.” (Keith Law, The Athletic)
About that four-seamer, ESPN notes that it might be hard to fix given that it averages just 92 MPH. So instead of fixing it, the Sox may suggest a different pitch mix, since Gray threw his fastball more than any other pitch last year despite the fact that opponents hit .370 and slugged .585 of it last season. (Bradford Doolittle and Dave Schoenfield, ESPN)
One day later, it’s safe to say that there’s a chunk of the fanbase that isn’t quite as excited, finding Gray to be not quite the stud as they were hoping for. So is he it for rotation additions this offseason? “I think the focus shifts to an impact bat but another pitching acquisition isn’t out of the question,” said one source with knowledge of the club’s plans. (Chris Cotillo, MassLive)
