SONNY A GRAY
Righty may be swing man in Yank rotation
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – When the lists are compiled for the most important Yankees heading into the 2018 season, Sonny Gray’s name usually falls several notches below Giancarlo Stanton and several of his marquee returning teammates.
Gray, after all, is fittingly the most under-the-radar color in a box of 64 crayons.
But the former Oakland All-Star unmistakably can be one of the determining factors in the Yankees reestablishing them- selves as the team to beat this year in the American League.
GM Brian Cashman flipped three prospects to the A’s for Gray last July to be something of an x-factor in the team’s playoff push, and while that never truly materialized, Gray enters his first full season in pinstripes seemingly determined to deliver.
Gray now has thrown 5.2 scoreless innings this spring, recording 11 more outs without allowing a run against the Braves on Friday night at Disney, making this truly the happiest place on earth for the Bombers.
“I’ve seen him, I’ve been in the building, when he’s been at his very best, when he’s dueling (Justin) Verlander in the playoffs,” Aaron Boone said after the Yankees’ 3-1 loss. “We feel like coming in this year, already having been with the team, a little more comfort…We’re hoping that it just kind of all builds that momentum towards what we hope is a strong, healthy season for him.
“Because he can be a real gamechanger for us.”
Gray’s inconsistency was his biggest issue in the second half and during the postseason last October. The 28-year-old righty received scant run support and finished 4-7 with an acceptable – but hardly dominant — 3.72 ERA over 11 regular-season outings for the Yanks.
He then posted a disjointed performance in his lone start against Cleveland in the division series — getting knocked out in the fourth inning of Game 1 after walking four and allowing three earned runs in a 4-0 defeat.
That outing was so uninspiring that Joe Girardi turned to the more experienced CC Sabathia for the Game 5 clincher against the Tribe, and Gray had to wait 12 days between starts before getting the ball again in Game 4 against Houston in the ALCS.
Clearly, Gray’s omission was about nothing but performance – his own and those recently by the other three members of the Yanks’ starting postseason rotation – as Girardi aligned his rotation for the ALCS to feature Masahiro Tanaka, Luis Severino and Sabathia again for the first three games.
Gray bounced back with an improved showing in Game 4, however, limiting the powerful ’Stros to one earned run on one hit in a 6-4 Yankees win to even the series. And he encouragingly has continued on that track so far through two preseason starts.
Gray allowed one hit, walked two and fanned three before hitting his predetermined pitch count (50 in all) and getting replaced by Tommy Kahnle with two outs in the fourth inning of a scoreless game.
“That felt good,” Gray said afterward. “I’ve said all along, getting around the guys and the organization and just being here from Day One it’s been, I’ve loved it.”
Either way, Boone was just as interested in seeing Gray continue to develop a better working relationship on Friday night with catcher Gary Sanchez after predecessor Joe Girardi often employed backup backstop Austin Romine behind the plate with him pitching last year.
“It’s something we wanted to get more reps, both Sanchy and us wanted (Gray) and Monty (No.5 Jordan Montgomery) working with Sanchy more…So we’ve tried to match them up as much as we can,” Boone said. “We’ve put a premium on it in camp, and they’ve both taken it upon themselves to make sure they pair up as much as they can, and they’ve been working really well together.” ray finding any semblance of a comfort level — and a pitching groove — this season should vault him back to where Cashman and the Yankees projected him to be when they boldly acquired him last summer, nestling between Severino and Tanaka at the front end of the rotation. And that certainly would move him up the lists of the most important Yankees for 2018.
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