Oakland Athletics Pitcher Sonny Gray to Pitch for Team USA in WBC
With a little over a month away from the start of the World Baseball Classic, players continue to commit to their country’s teams, respectively. The latest addition to team USA’s roster is Oakland Athletics pitcher Sonny Gray.
SF Chronicle reporter Susan Slusser reported Monday that Oakland A’s pitcher Sonny Gray accepted an invite to join the team USA squad for the 2017 World Baseball Classic.
Sonny Gray tells me he has accepted invite from Team USA for WBC.
— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) January 30, 2017
Gray, 27, has pitched in the MLB for the past four seasons, all with the A’s. He’s 38-31 in his career with a 3.42 ERA and 513 strikeouts. Over that time frame, Gray has reached a career bWAR of 9.8.
In 2015, Gray made a name for himself when he finished third in the AL Cy Young voting. He posted a 2.73 ERA, along with 14 wins and 169 strikeouts. His season bWAR reached 5.8, the third-highest for an AL pitcher that season.
The following season didn’t bode well for Gray. After his phenomenal 2015 campaign, Gray struggled in 2016. He finished with a 5-11 record, only 94 strikeouts and an abysmal 5.69 ERA. He also missed most of August and September due to a muscle strain in his right arm.
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The right-hander looks to bounce back in 2017, and he’ll set out to prove that in the WBC. With Gray’s commitment to the WBC, it looks like his arm issues are cleared, and the strain has healed.
The A’s certainly need Gray back to ace form this upcoming season. The rest of the projected 2017 A’s rotation consists of Kendall Graveman, Sean Manaea, Jharel Cotton and Andrew Triggs. Manaea, Cotton and Triggs have just 35 starts combined in their careers. If the A’s plan to win next season, they’ll need Gray to lead this inexperienced rotation.
But first Gray shifts his focus to his new USA team. The other current starting pitchers on the roster are Chris Archer, Danny Duffy, Tanner Roark and Marcus Stroman. While the rosters aren’t finalized yet, USA possesses a young and strong rotation.
This is the fourth-ever WBC. Team USA has yet to win the tournament. In fact, team USA hasn’t finished higher than fourth place in any WBC. But this could finally be the year. The roster looks stronger than in years past, but defeating teams such as the Dominican Republic and Japan is no easy task.
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With a mix of seasoned veterans and rising-stars in today’s game, the roster matches well against any opponent. Can team USA finally win their first WBC? Tune in March 6-22 to see how they fare against the rest of the world.