Gray is happy to take reins
PHOENIX» The Rockies are entering their most crucial stretch of the season. Right-hander Jon Gray wants to anchor that run. Is he up to the task?
He thinks so.
“You have to feel that way. You can’t not want the ball, because then it’s not going to turn out well for you,” Gray said before Monday night’s game against Arizona. “You have to be able to go out there and show it off.”
Gray (7-4, 4.07 ERA) takes the mound Tuesday night in the second game of a crucial four-game series against the Diamondbacks. He’s in a good place, having gone 4-2 with a 2.55 ERA over his last seven starts, including beating the Los Angeles Dodgers and ace Clayton Kershaw on Thursday when Gray gave up one run on four hits over six innings.
“I’ve seen growth, especially the last few starts,” Rockies manager Bud Black said of Gray, “especially with his poise on the mound. When there’s a little bit of a dilemma or a little bit of a crisis, he’s able to work himself out of it.
“There were starts earlier in the year, like opening day in Milwaukee, where guys got on base and he couldn’t get out of it without them throwing up a big number.”
The Rockies won the opener 7-5 against the Brewers, but Gray lasted only four innings and was tagged for five runs.
“I think he’s learning, albeit a little bit slowly, about what it takes to be a major-league pitcher,” Black said. “That means being able to minimize damage, keep himself in the game and be more efficient. There are so many things pitchers learn those first couple of years, and I think Jon is still in that category of growth.”
Gray was placed on the disabled list April 14 with a stress fracture in his left foot and didn’t return until June 30. That injury has affected him, at least to some extent, most of the season. His slider, usually his go-to pitch, has not been as crisp as he expects it to be. That means he has gone to his fastball and curve more often as a put-away pitch.
“I think (the slider) is getting there,” he said. “I’m seeing results — not 100 percent of the time — but I am slowly getting it back to where it’s supposed to be. I feel like my slider is there 80 percent of the time, instead of 20. And it’s only going to get better.”
Gray is also learning what it takes thrive over a long season.
“I just focus on what I have that day,” he said. “I know my slider hasn’t been great this year, but I know that with that, I have to throw my fastball better. I have to throw it at the knees and throw it inside. And I need to utilize the curveball. I know that can be a good pitch. I know I have the weapons to battle.”
Slamming a slump.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Rockies had been hitless in their last 20 at-bats with the bases loaded until Mark Reynolds mashed a grand slam Sunday against the Dodgers. That was the longest such drought in the majors this season. Colorado entered the game 0-for-17 with the bases full, the longest drought in franchise history, a number that was extended during Sunday’s game until Reynolds delivered.