Sonny Gray says he “feels good” about starting anew with the Cincinnati Reds. Deep down inside, however, he still holds a grudge against the New York Yankees.
Sonny Gray‘s tenure with the New York Yankees left a lot to be desired. The once Cy Young Award candidate, who in his first three big league seasons put together a 33-20 record with a 2.88 ERA, became a shell of himself as soon as he put on the Yankee Pinstripes.
In 41 appearances with the Yanks, Gray managed a 15-16 record with a 4.51 ERA. As noted in a previous piece, however, it wasn’t all bad for the Yankees and Gray.
In away games, Sonny Gray was actually pretty good. Take last season for example. In 15 appearances away from the Bronx, Gray pitched to a 3.17 ERA and 1.155 WHIP. Conversely, In 15 appearances in the Bronx, Gray’s numbers ballooned to 6.98 and 1.904.
More from Call to the Pen
- Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
- Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
- Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
- Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
- 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals
Gray doesn’t see it this way, however. In a piece written by Eno Sarris of The Athletic, Gray attributes his performance with the Yanks to the overuse of a “s–tty slider”.
"“They love sliders,” Gray said of the Yankees. “Sliders are a great pitch. The numbers say slider is a good pitch, but you might not realize how many s–tty counts you’re getting in while throwing all those sliders. They wanted me to be Tanaka and I’m way different from him.”"
He’s right, the Yankees do love sliders, or more accurately, they love breaking balls and high-velocity flame throwers.
This doesn’t, however, explain Gray’s home-away splits and appears more like a guy who resents his time in New York.
In fact, in that same piece, Gray recounts how in his last appearance with the Yanks, he took it upon himself to throw only 94 MPH cutters in his last outing against the Boston Red Sox.
"“I said, ‘F–k ’em, all I’m going to do is throw cutters today.’ I just threw 94-mph cutters — six up, six down, four punchies, and I thought maybe I’ll make the postseason roster here … but I didn’t.”"
To be fair, who can blame him?
With the Reds, Gray is reunited with his former pitching coach at Vanderbilt, Derek Johnson. Under Johnson’s tutelage, Gray seems to have regained his confidence. He’s also ready to lose the slider.
Most importantly, he seems to have taken what he learned from the Yankees and is ready to begin anew.