ROCKIES’ GRAY EAGER FOR BASEBALL TO RESUME
Starter Jon Gray itching to return to mound after recovering from fractured foot
Jon Gray searched for the right way to say it. ¶ “Man, I don’t want to sound selfish, because I know that so many people are going through a lot right now, but I sure miss baseball,” the Rockies’ right-hander said Sunday from his new home in Scottsdale, Ariz. “I can’t wait to come back. I just wish baseball could go back to the way it was.”
You can’t blame Gray for his eagerness to get back on the mound. It’s been more than eight months since he threw a pitch in a regular-season game.
Gray, 28, was the Rockies’ most consistent starter last year, going 11-8 with a 3.84 ERA over 26 games (25 starts). But his season was cut short by a fractured left foot that landed him on the injured list Aug. 21 and required surgery.
His last regular-season start, on Aug. 16, was a gem. Gray pitched eight shutout innings, striking out seven and walking none in Colorado’s 3-0 victory over Miami at Coors Field.
“I feel more confident than ever … the most confident I’ve felt in my career,” said Gray, whose foot has completely healed from the injury. “I had a lot of confidence in my stuff early on in my career, but now I have confidence that I can pitch well even on days when my best stuff isn’t there. And don’t think you see as many bad games or big innings.”
Gray doesn’t presume to know when baseball might return, or what form it will take when Major League Baseball figures out a plan to play games in a season halted by the coronavirus pandemic.
“It’s so tough to say what will happen,” Gray said. “I’ve seen some of the proposals for starting up again and I’ve gotta say I haven’t seen anything that seems realistic yet. Maybe it is, but it’s just kind of hard to envision.”
Gray predicts he’ll be ready when the call comes.
“From where I am right now, I think it would take me two or three weeks to get ready,” he said.
Gray has kept his arm in shape by pitching into a net and lifting weights in his home gym in his native Oklahoma. Every Friday, pitching coach Steve Foster conducts a 30-45 minute meeting on Zoom with the Rockies’ pitchers.
Just three days ago, Gray and his wife, Jacklyn, moved into their new home in Scottsdale. The home’s backyard has running room for their three Yorkshire terriers and also a pool.
“It’s already been really hot here,” Gray said. “I jumped into the pool each of the first three days we’ve been here.”
One of the best parts of Gray’s move to Arizona was that it puts him in close proximity to Rockies catcher Tony Wolters, who lives about 5 minutes away. The two will soon begin throwing and working out together as Gray prepares for the season, whenever it comes.
“For me, Jon was very consistent last year, on an even plane,” Wolters said. “He was not too high and not too low. He understands that you’re not going to have your A-plus stuff every day, but he’s one of the smartest guys I know and he’s figuring out how to pitch. Jon’s a special athlete and he can be a workhorse for us.”
Before spring training was curtailed by the coronavirus on March 12, Gray was concentrating on three main things. First, he was pitching out of the stretch more than normal in an attempt to better control the running game by getting to the plate quicker, while holding runners closer to first. Second, he was working on modifying his curveball grip. Third, he tweaked the grip on his slider, the pitch that helped make him the third overall draft pick out of Oklahoma in 2013, but a pitch that he’s had troubling mastering.
“Man, baseball would be a lot easier if that slider worked every time,” he said with a laugh. “I’ve been chasing that pitch for a while. But now I know how to make it effective, even when it’s not my best pitch that day. With the curve, I didn’t really change a lot, I just changed my grip and I have better spin efficiency. I’m really starting to trust it.
“I think the curveball filled a lot of gaps for me last year and I think it will be even better this year.”