"Be aggressive, pitch aggressive" - Sonny Gray impresses with his sensational pitching in Spring Training debut for Minnesota Twins, overwhelms Baltimore Orioles
For right-handed pitcher Sonny Gray, 2021 was not the season that he expected of himself. Indeed, ever since Gray was drafted by the Oakland Athletics back in 2011, his career has been a roller-coaster of ups and downs.
After sorting out some lingering injury problems early on in his career, Gray went for a combined 33-20 record and an ERA of 2.82. These statistics for the young Vanderbilt University alum earned him two-time pitcher of the month in 2014 and an All-Star designation in 2015.
Unfortunately for Sonny Gray, in his subsequent seasons playing with the New York Yankees, his ERA slowly inflated, and he was eventually demoted to the Yankees bullpen.
Sonny Gray joined the Cincinnati Reds in 2019, where he was able to get his mojo back and regain an All-Star designation, his first since four years earlier.
Sonny Gray looks ready to dominate again in 2022
In March 2022, Sonny Gray was traded to the Minnesota Twins for pitcher Chase Petty.
Fans in the Twin Cities were excited and hoping that Gray, who is still very much in his prime at age 32, could feature at the top of the Twins rotation.
Gray made his Spring Training debut on Sunday at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers, Florida, for the Minnesota Twins.
4 perfect innings for Sonny Gray in his Spring Training debut. https://t.co/fDKyjpLZ0y
"4 perfect innings for Sonny Gray in his Spring Training debut." - @ MLB
He pitched four solid innings, striking out no less than 10 Baltimore batters and not allowing a hit.
When asked to review his performance, the 32-year-old was quoted as saying, "The whole thing that I wanted to do was just attack the zone, force early contact and just attack the zone, attack the zone, attack the zone, be aggressive, pitch aggressive."
It may be cloudy, but Sonny was shining today ☀️
In his first appearance as a Twin he recorded 4 IP, 0 H, and 6 K!! https://t.co/R5W8H8urY2
"It may be cloudy, but Sonny was shining today. In his first appearance as a Twin he recorded 4 IP, 0 H, and 6 K!!" - @ Minnesota Twins
Fans will remember Gray has always had great stamina and has a notable ability to pitch deep into games. Gray finished in the top 10 for total innings pitched in 2014 and 2015, throwing four complete-game shutouts in those years.
Despite the solid breakout performance with his new team, there is still a long road to tread if Gray wants to get back to where he was as a pitcher in 2014 and 2015. However, with the Twins, he will find a guaranteed starter role, a perfect place to hone and fine-tune his game, to make yesterday's performance a common ooccurrence.