In 2020, Sonny Gray was the Cincinnati Reds’ Opening Day starter.
In 2021, Gray will start the regular season on the injured list.
That was the word Sunday from Reds spring training, where Gray has been shut down from throwing because of back spasms.
“I think we just kind of made a decision and it’s still lingering just enough when you really kind of crank on it, crank on pitching, to say, ‘Hey, let’s take a step back. Let’s try to knock everything out now, so it doesn’t become a larger issue down the road,’” Gray said, per MLB.com. “I didn’t throw today. I won’t throw tomorrow. I think the plan is to try to pick up a ball again on Wednesday or Thursday and play catch. … “My back just keeps spasming. It just keeps spasming when I rotate and when I throw. Going through pitching and throwing is all fine. When I get on the mound and I really crank on it, it just kind of spasms up a little.”
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His back injury not withstanding, Gray has been able to purge those dark days he spent pitching for the New York Yankees.
General manager Brian Cashman traded with the Oakland A’s for Gray before the non-waiver deadline in 2017. At the time, Gray had a career ERA of 3.42 and was an All-Star in 2015, when he finished third in American League Cy Young Award voting.
By the end of the 2018 season, Gray lost his spot in the Yankees’ starting rotation, going 15-16 with a 4.51 ERA following the trade.
In January of 2019, the Yankees dumped Gray on the Reds, who gave him a three-year, $30.5 million contract extension. Gray had been eligible for arbitration following the 2019 campaign.
Gray rewarded the Reds for their faith, going 11-8 with a 2.87 ERA in 2019, earning his second career All-Star bid and finishing seventh in voting for the National League Cy Young Award.
Gray made 11 starts in the coronavirus-shortened 2020 season, going 5-3 with a 3.70 ERA.
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