Whole infield’s a hit for Bombers
ABOUT the best you can say for Sonny Gray is that he hasn’t nosedived all the way to Matt Harvey territory yet. But it’s fair to say Gray is fast becoming a Harvey-like enigma to the Yankees.
As in: what the heck is going on with this guy?
Last summer, GM Brian Cashman gave up three top prospects thinking he’d traded for a No. 2 starter — with No. 1 stuff on his best days. Gray didn’t pitch to that expectation after coming over from the A’s last summer, but he was solid enough.
Now he’s in such a fog that Aaron Boone said he considered Wednesday night’s performance, in which Gray walked five and needed Chad Green to get him out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth inning, as “a big step forward.”
If that’s true, it’s only because his previous two starts were hideous. And actually, if the Yankees had realistic alternatives, Gray might be another ugly start or two from getting the Harvey treatment and being sent to the bullpen.
But their lack of starting-pitching depth is exactly why Gray’s issues have to be considered a major concern. If they’re going to win a championship in 2018, they’re going to need him to pitch a lot more like that No. 2 starter they envisioned.
So while the Yankees are riding high at the moment, after beating up on the Twins for a third straight night to win 7-4 and stretch their winning streak to five games, it’s impossible to ignore the Gray matter, if you will.
At least he managed to lower his ERA from 8.29 to 7.71 with 4.2 innings. And give him credit, as Boone made a
Dpoint of doing, for hanging in there in the fifth inning after taking a Joe Mauer line drive off the back of his arm, managing to get a couple more outs before issuing his final walk of the night to load the bases for Green.
“I liked the compete I saw out there,” was the way Boone put it.
Fair enough. But it’s also fair to say the Twins hit a lot of balls hard against Gray, including Max Kepler’s deep drive to center that Brett Gardner ran down in that fifth inning.
And when you throw in the five walks, well you get the idea.
It wasn’t exactly a masterpiece.
What makes Gray tough to watch is the way he’s nibbled around the plate, seemingly afraid to throw strikes: he needed 104 pitches to get 14 outs against the Twins, and he has issued 16 walks in 21 innings for the season.
It’s exasperating because, unlike Harvey, the quality of Gray’s stuff isn’t the issue. Gray’s fastball velocity has been down at times this season, but he was at 93 mph and above most of this night, and scouts still talk about the good, late sink on his two-seamer, as well as the sharp break on his curveball.
For that matter, before Wednesday’s game Boone made the case that Gray’s repertoire of pitches is somehow working against him.
“I think a lot of it has to do with his talent in that he’s capable of doing a lot of things,” the manager said. “He gets great movement on his pitches, he’s got really good stuff, so I sometimes feel it’s a case of he feels like he can always make the perfect pitch.
“I think if he just pounds the zone with that and trusts it a little more, the IDI Gregorius did it all on Wednesday night. But he also had help. Gregorius went 3-for-3 with a homer, two walks and two RBI in the Yankees’ 7-4 victory over the Twins. Asked if he’d ever been this locked in before, Gregorius replied: “That's the same question as yesterday.”
Gregorius has nine homers and an MLB-leading 29 RBI through 23 games. That translates to an unsustainable but extraordinary 63-homer, 204-RBI pace over a full 162-game season.
Didi also beat the shift with a slash bunt down the thirdbase line and made a slick barehanded play to end the game.
The rest of the Yankee infielders also contributed. Tyler Austin blasted a three-run homer and made an excellent over-the-shoulder sliding catch to end the seventh. He also doubled.
Austin is still waiting to hear from MLB regarding his appeal success is right there to follow.”
Afterward, Boone acknowledged that Gray was “still nibbling a little bit,” but said the aggressive mentality “will come as he gains confidence.”
So perhaps the question is what has happened to Gray’s confidence. Even after games he seems a bit unsure of why he isn’t attacking the strike zone with more assurance.
“I’m going out there with every intention of having an aggressive mindset,” he said. “I feel like I’m really close. I’ll definitely come out on the other side of this thing, for sure.”
The Yankees were hoping that pairing him with Austin Romine again would make a big difference. Boone doesn’t like the idea of personal catchers for any of his pitchers, but the difference in numbers with Romine, as opposed to Gary Sanchez, was dramatic enough to want to find out more.
Simply put, Gray’s first two starts of the season, with Romine catching at least somewhat by happenstance, weren’t great but they were much better than his last two with Sanchez behind the plate, as was the case going back to last season.
Boone acknowledged it could be more than coincidence, saying “there’s probably that comfort level there.”
Perhaps for a pitcher who tries to get hitters to chase so many pitches in the dirt, Gray is more confident in Romine’s ability to block balls, and indeed on this night the catcher may have saved his pitcher more damage with some tough blocks, especially in the fifth inning. till, it’s not like Romine cured whatever is ailing Gray, so the Yanks’ concern level rises a little over a pitcher for whom they have such high hopes. The only good news for them is it doesn’t rise to anything approaching Harvey level yet.
Sof his five-game suspension. He should hear something soon. Struggling Neil Walker will play at first while Austin is out, with backup catcher Austin Romine available to play the position in case of emergency.
Gleyber Torres had two hits, including his first career double, and Miguel Andujar added his ninth two-base hit of the year.
DRURY VISION
Brandon Drury (migraines, blurred vision) went 2-for-4 with an RBI in his first minor-league rehab game for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Drury has been out since April 7. “I’m seeing improvements, for sure,” Drury said in Scranton. “Something I’ve had for a while is not going to get better in a week. But I’m seeing improvements, and that’s the kind of mindset I’m at.” GETTY