JUPITER, Fla. — The Sonny Gray Experience remains in its early stages at Cardinals camp, but it’s shaping up to be a fiery, magnetic, cerebral and enthralling ride.
, a 5-foot-10 right-hander, has more than 10 years of experience facing major league hitters, a trio of All-Star selections, nearly 100 career wins, more than 1,500 strikeouts and he three times finished among the top seven in the Cy Young Award voting.
Despite his experience, accomplishments and the three-year contract worth a guaranteed $75 million he signed in November that gives him a level of cachet, Gray desires a collaborative approach from the people around him. That includes catchers, coaches and other pitchers.
“As much as you’d like to be, ‘I know everything; I’m always right,’ you’re not,†Gray said standing under a tent as rain pounded the Cardinals training facility on Sunday. “But having people present different viewpoints, different situations and all that, I think that’s healthy. Listening to it. Accepting it.
People are also reading…
“Whether you do it or not, that’s up to you. But at least you can be an open book and have maybe feel comfortable enough to express your viewpoint to you.â€
That philosophy may help explain ³Ò°ù²¹²â’s lively and animated throwing sessions. Positioned as the likely opening day starting pitcher for the Cardinals, Gray caught everyone’s attention last week with his first bullpen session.
Instantly, it became clear that Gray would not only play the leading part in the performance, but he’d also assume the role of conductor.
His raucous approach in that initial bullpen session and a subsequent one — from calling out situations to letting his catchers know where to set their targets to letting them know how he expected his fastball to move and his goals for making hitters to react — hit all the onlookers like a whirlwind.
Gray, 34, wants his thought process and his approach to remain as transparent as possible for those around him. That way, they can think along with him and feel free to provide feedback and input.
“I’m an open book,†Gray said. “I am who I am. I’m going to put all my cards on the table for my teammates, and this is what I’m thinking. It’s pretty easy to read me if you just watch. It helps me by maybe having someone else understand how I’m thinking, and maybe they can come back and say, ‘This is what I’m thinking.’â€
Gray threw to hitters for the first time in camp on Sunday. The steady rain broke long enough for him to throw off the mound on a back field, and he dominated a live batting practice session.
He worked quickly and threw a lot of strikes with a variety of pitch types in the brief outing. Gray struck out three batters swinging, got one ground ball and one flare. Both the grounder and the flare, off the bat of Pedro Pages, were toward the shortstop area.
Gray fell behind in the count just once. All of the batters were minor league catchers (Wade Stauss, Aaron Antonini, Nick Raposo and Pages) with the rest of the position players getting a day off ahead of the first full-squad workout on Monday. Starting catcher Willson Contreras caught ³Ò°ù²¹²â’s session. Meanwhile, backup catcher Ivan Herrera caught Lance Lynn’s bullpen session.
After he wrapped up his live batting practice, Gray met with pitching coach Dusty Blake, assistant pitching coach/bullpen coach Julio Rangel, Contreras and Pages on the field. Gray did his best to let them know what he saw, felt, thought on the mound.
Before he left the field, Gray talked with Blake about setting a time to go over the entire session, presumably with the video and data, on Monday.
Prior to Gray facing hitters, a reporter asked Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol if he’d been surprised how quickly Gray had felt comfortable being himself in his new environment.
“We heard that that would be the case exactly,†Marmol said. “He goes about it in his own way, and it’s fun to watch. But no, we had a really good feeling that he’d fit in immediately.â€
The confident and in-control Gray who arrived at Cardinals camp is the product of experience — ups, downs, successes, struggles, mistakes and growing pains.
³Ò°ù²¹²â’s and have publicly attributed some of ³Ò°ù²¹²â’s struggles in the past to Gray listening too much to others.
This current version of Gray might be better suited to receive input and sift through it than at any other point in his big league tenure.
“I’ve gone through that a couple times in my career where you do try and maybe please someone else and do exactly (what they want),†Gray said. “I have went through that a couple times in my career, and I just learn from them each time. By going through situations like that, I think you come out the other side and you’re better for it.
“It’s still being able to be open to listen but also being able to pick out the things that can help you and then maybe disregard some of the things that cannot help you.â€
Coming off a stellar season shouldn’t hurt his confidence and assertiveness.
Gray went 8-8 with a 2.79 ERA, 9.0 strikeouts per nine innings, a 3.33-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio and a 1.15 WHIP in 32 starts (184 innings) with the Minnesota Twins in 2023.
His 2.83 FIP (fielding independent pitching) and 0.4 home runs allowed per nine innings pitched both led the majors. He logged the second-best ERA among qualified AL pitchers, the third-best in the majors.
“I think just understanding yourself and knowing yourself makes it easier,†Gray said of filtering through the feedback he receives. “I think just having a really, really, really good understanding of yourself as a person, as a pitcher, as a competitor, does make it easier. But also, I think it’s important to have something to chase as well. You’ve got to have something that you’re after.â€
Gray makes it fairly easy to decipher what he’s after every time he takes the mound. All you need to do is listen and watch.