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Sonny Gray, the St. Louis Cardinals’ top offseason acquisition, was pulled from his second exhibition start with tightness in his right hamstring, according to a team spokesman.
He had thrown 20 pitches in 1 2/3 innings Monday against the Washington Nationals, but motioned to catcher Willson Contreras after throwing a pitch mid-at-bat against catcher Keibert Ruiz.
Gray was quickly welcomed to the mound by Contreras, head coach Adam Olsen, manager Oli Marmol and pitching coach Dusty Blake. The decision was soon made to remove him from the game.
Gray, who signed a three-year, $75 million contract with St. Louis in November, was named the Opening Day starter last week. He remained in the dugout until the end of Monday’s inning before being carted off for further evaluation.
What is the initial level of concern?
Concern will always arise after a team’s presumed ace leaves a spring game early. Gray was scheduled to pitch three innings and quickly completed the first of them. But after recording an out in the second inning, both Gray and Contreras immediately recognized something was wrong.
The Cardinals won’t know the extent of Gray’s hamstring tightness until Tuesday. Gray will undergo an MRI Monday night in Jupiter.
The Cardinals obviously hope to avoid any serious injuries, but if Gray is out, their rotation leaves a lot to be desired. Miles Mikolas and Kyle Gibson would round out the top tier, with Steven Matz (who logged one scoreless inning with two strikeouts in his Grapefruit League debut on Monday) and Lance Lynn in between. Matthew Liberatore and Zack Thompson would be the most likely candidates to fill out the rotation, and perhaps both lefties could make the cut if the Cardinals decide to use a temporary six-man rotation to open the year.
Still, the Cardinals will wait to make decisions until they know the extent of Gray’s injury.
Has Gray had to deal with hamstring injuries before?
Gray put together a healthy 2023 for the Minnesota Twins, making all 32 of his starts, but landed on the disabled list three times in 2022. Two of those seasons were hamstring-related. Gray missed nearly three weeks in mid-April 2022 with what the Twins called a “mild right hamstring strain” and was placed on the disabled list again in mid-September with another hamstring strain. right.
Despite an injury-plagued 2022, Gray certainly put aside concerns about his hamstring in 2023. He and the Cardinals hope Monday’s premature exit was a precaution, but the next 24 hours will be telling.
(Sonny Gray Photo: Jeff Roberson/Associated Press)