JUPITER, Fla. – Sonny Gray, the St. Louis Cardinals’ biggest signing this offseason, has been diagnosed with a mild hamstring strain after departing Monday’s start abruptly.
Cardinals POBO John Mozeliak says the diagnosis is relatively “encouragining,” but it’s unclear whether he will be ready for Opening Day.
Gray will miss his next scheduled spring start this weekend and the team will closely monitor his hamstring situation in the next few days. The team conducted an MRI on Monday evening.
“Our fingers are always crossed, but this isn’t something that’s going to slow down, but we don’t think this is something that’s going to go deep into the season by any means,” said Mozeliak.
“It’s our first test,” said manager Oli Marmol. “It’s part of the game unfortunately. We have to prepare well for all situations. It happens. He’s optimistic about it, we’re optimistic about it. We’re looking forward.”
Gray held the Nationals to 1.2 scoreless innings on Monday before he asked the medical staff to evaluate him on the mound. He was removed from the game after 20 pitches.
The Cardinals have not yet offered a firm timetable on Gray’s recovery, but according to medical experts, in some cases, mild hamstring strains can take 3-8 weeks for recovery.
Gray was not readily available to media on Monday or Tuesday.
Gray, the 2023 American League Cy Young runner-up with the Minnesota Twins, joined the Cardinals on a three-year, $75 million contract in the offseason. He was preparing to be the Opening Day starter of a new-look Cardinals rotation, which also includes veterans Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn.
Miles Mikolas and Steven Matz will presumably take two rotation spots if healthy through spring. The Cardinals could give Zack Thompson, Matthew Liberatore and Drew Rom extended looks for more innings, possibly in spring starts, as all had starting opportunities at the big-league level last year.
Gray’s setback comes with two intriguing left-handed starting pitchers still as free agent. That includes two-time All Star Blake Snell and recent Cardinal Jordan Montgomery. Both are clients of Scott Boras, an agent who has not had his best offseason in terms of landing big deals for players.
According to reports from Derrick Goold, lead Cardinals writer for the St. Louis Post Dispatch, it doesn’t appear the Cardinals have reached out to Boras about Snell or Montgomery in recent weeks. There are still a few other free agent starting pitchers available, but not necessarily to either’s pedigree. With that in mind, the Cardinals may look within for innings in the short-term.
Opening Day is roughly three weeks away. The Cardinals open the 2024 season against the Los Angeles Dodgers on March 28.
This is a developing story. Check back for more details.
