Having been in the big leagues since 2013, Sonny Gray has accumulated a lot of stats in his career. He certainly can’t be aware of all of them, but there’s one this year that he clearly knew by heart.
“I think I’m the best pitcher in the American League going through the order the third time,” Gray said Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium, after the Red Sox were swept out of the Wild Card Stadium. “I think that’s a fact.”
Indeed, the 36-year-old was great when facing a lineup for a third time this year, holding hitters to a .180 average while posting a 1.99 ERA.
Yet while the crafty veteran was aware of his effectiveness the third time through the batting order, his manager was either unaware or not interested in letting Gray pitch out of a miniature jam with the Red Sox’ season on the line.
After Gray allowed two singles with the Yankees leading 1-0 in the fifth, first-year manager Chad Tracy strode to the mound and inexplicably called upon lefty reliever Erik Miller for the second straight night at the same exact point in the game.
That move backfired immediately in Game 1, when Miller replaced Payton Tolle and surrendered a home run on his third pitch. And it failed again in Game 2, with Miller giving up two hits to the only batters he faced. The first was Cody Bellinger, who ripped an RBI single off Miller’s slider to double the Yankees’ lead to 2-0.
Gray, who will finish in the top three of Cy Young voting this year, felt he should have been given the chance to at least finish the fifth inning.
“I would have liked to live or die with me in that moment, but that’s the competitor I am. I think you could probably ask the guys, and they felt the same way,” Gray said. “I felt strong, I felt confident, I felt convicted. But what can you do?”
Gray added: “I would have liked to been trusted in that moment.”
Certainly, Gray’s work both this season and throughout his career earned him a start in the playoffs over Ranger Suarez, who’s one of the best postseason pitchers in baseball history. And at just 70 pitches, and after getting proper rest down the stretch, Gray was far from being on the ropes when Tracy made his call.
Even though the decision to go to Miller allowed the Yankees to instantly double their leads in both games of the sweep, Tracy defended his decisions.
“[Tolle and Gray] are great, yeah. Our bullpen’s been great all year, too,” Tracy said. “It’s a case sometimes of depending on what the score is and how much wiggle room we have, if we were able to put up some runs and maybe have some more breathing room, we might be able to [keep the starters in the game]. But trying to be aggressive and create tough matchups, and it just didn’t work out.”
Tracy’s assertion that the bullpen has been great all year is true overall, but it doesn’t apply to Miller specifically.
After joining the Red Sox as the return in the Marcelo Mayer trade, Miller made a strong first impression, posting a 0.63 ERA and 1.047 WHIP in his first 14 appearances. He struck out 25 batters and walked just six in that span, earning a trusted spot for high-leverage, late-game situations for Boston.
But his effectiveness nosedived late in the year, when he posted a 12.46 ERA and 2.538 WHIP over his final five appearances, walking six batters while striking out just four.
Those struggles clearly continued in Game 1, when Miller gave up a home run and an infield single in his one-third of an inning, but Tracy — with his full complement of high-leverage bullpen arms available — went right back to Miller in Game 2. For a second straight night, Miller could not deliver.
Tracy and the Red Sox felt comfortable giving the ball to Tolle in Game 1 on the road in Yankee Stadium. Yet with two outs and nobody on in the fifth, and with Tolle at just 83 pitches, Tracy took that ball away and gave it to a reliever in whom the manager should have lost trust.
Tracy and the Red Sox then felt comfortable giving the ball to Gray in Game 2, this time with the season hanging in the balance. Yet with two outs and two runners aboard in the fifth, Tracy again took the ball out of the hand of the trusted starter to place it in the shaky left hand of Miller.
Both times, the move did not work. And though the correlation may not be strictly scientific, both bullpen moves led to Game 1 and Game 2 spiraling out of control from that point forward.
Gray, who’s set to become a free agent this offseason unless he retires, said that Tracy did not give him an explanation for the move. Gray was also asked if Boston would be a “destination” if he does choose to pitch again next year.
“I don’t know,” he answered.
