As starting pitcher Sonny Gray and the Cardinals took a “realistic†look at how many games remained the regular season and what the standings said, it became clear what the “smarter†route was to take after he experienced some discomfort.
Gray was placed on the 15-day injured list Saturday because of right forearm flexor tendinitis, thus ending his first season with the Cardinals. The 34-year-old right-hander, who signed a three-year, $75-million contract last offseason, ends his campaign with a 13-9 record, a 3.84 ERA, and 203 strikeouts in 166â…“ innings.
“I think I knew in the back of my head what the probably smart thing to do was,†Gray told reporters on Saturday. “Not to say that I wanted to, because I just kept saying, ‘I know I can pitch.’ I just don’t know if it’s smart. … I think it’s just one of those things once it comes to attention and you bring it to life, then you look at and say, ‘OK, well now if I pitch and it gets worse or something then bad happens’ then you look back and you’re just kind of like, ‘Well, what are you doing?’
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“Not to say that would have happened or that wouldn’t happen. No one will know. But I think by making this decision, you know that it’s not going to happen.â€
Gray said he “didn’t recover great†following a game on Sept. 12 against Cincinnati. He felt “fine†in the days that followed and during his Wednesday start against Pittsburgh. Gray underwent an MRI on his arm that “came back clean’ and provided some ease of mind.
The decision to put Gray on the IL comes a day after the Cardinals were mathematically eliminated from postseason contention. Could Gray have pitched through the discomfort if a playoff spot was within reach?
“Yeah, no question. Yes,†he said.
Gray said the injury does not change how he’ll approach his offseason plans.
“It’s nothing that I’m overly concerned about, especially after getting MRIs and whatnot,†he said. “I think it was, like I said, (taking) a good evaluation of kind of where we’re at.â€
Gray began his Cardinals career with a 3.34 ERA in 17 starts before the All-Star break. He posted a 5.79 ERA in seven starts after the break and managed to end his season with a 2.55 ERA in his last four starts. Three of the last four were quality starts.
“I was definitely taking strides in the right direction,†he said. “I think there was just a good look in the mirror at one point, and it was one of those moments again, which you have all the time in your career and in seasons. And it’s like, OK, well what I’m doing is not working. It has worked in the past, and I’ve been very successful in doing this.
“But is it now time to maybe take a deeper look and reevaluate and start changing a plan or ... sequencing and throwing pitches in locations that I haven’t thrown them in in years, and doing things that I haven’t done in years? Just kind of like an evolution of that once again, which I’m always going to have because I’m always going to try to continue to figure things out and continue to get better.â€
Across 28 starts, Gray, whose start to the season was delayed until April 9 because of a hamstring injury, posted a 30.3 strikeout rate and 29.6% swing-and-miss rate. He provided the Cardinals with 13 quality starts and held opposing hitters to 1.09 walks plus hits per inning pitched (WHIP). Gray’s 1.09 WHIP was his lowest since 2019.
The 203 strikeouts Gray totaled tied him for seventh most across the major league at the start of Saturday. He became the ninth different pitcher in Cardinals history to strike out 200 or more batters in a season and the first to do so since Jack Flaherty struck out 231 batters in 2019.
“He did a nice job, man,†Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said of Gray’s season. “Brought an intensity and a focus and a determination that’s contagious. You saw it in spring training, where it started. Just his detail to his work, and how he preps for each start. His bullpens, to how he thinks about the game. He’s a student of it. He lives it.
“You want as many of those guys as possible. And the guys that aren’t, you want that kind of rubbing off on them. He did exactly what we needed him to do on and off the field. I love having his competitive mindset as a part of what we’re doing moving forward.â€
Extra bases
Rookie right-hander Michael McGreevy is scheduled to start on Tuesday in the Cardinals’ road series opener against the Colorado Rockies. The start will be the second of McGreevy’s big-league career.
Reliever Kyle Leahy was promoted from Class AAA Memphis in a corresponding move to Gray’s IL placement.
Class AA Springfield’s season ended on Friday night with a 6-5 loss to Arkansas in Game 3 of a Texas League Division Series. Springfield clinched a spot in the postseason by winning a franchise-record 79 games and going a franchise-record 20 games above .500. Springfield was one of two Cardinals minor-league affiliates to gain a playoff spot this season. The other was Low-A Palm Beach, which won the Florida State League title on Wednesday.