Sonny Gray keeps stacking up milestones, and Saturday night gave him another one to wear.
The 36-year-old right-hander was excellent in a road start against the Pittsburgh Pirates, spinning seven shutout innings to help the Boston Red Sox to a 4-0 win. For a team that badly needed a victory during a rough stretch, Gray gave Boston exactly what it needed: calm, control and a start that never looked in doubt.
The outing pushed Gray to 15-3 on the season with a 2.65 ERA over 132 2/3 innings. It was the first time in his 14-year MLB career that he has reached 15 wins in a season, and it also put him in some rare company. Gray became the fastest Red Sox pitcher to get to 15 wins in a season since Pedro Martinez in 1998.
That kind of mention is hard to miss. Martinez is one of the most dominant names in Red Sox history, and Gray has now matched one of his marks while putting together a season that few people likely saw coming. What stands out most is the steadiness: start after start, he has given Boston a real chance to win.
Gray has been even more important since Garrett Crochet went down with injury earlier in the year. He’s effectively filled the ace role for the Red Sox and has put himself firmly into the American League Cy Young conversation. If he were to win it, it would be his first, though he has finished in the top three in Cy Young voting twice before.
The bigger picture around Boston only makes Gray’s season look more impressive. Before the team’s historic winning streak, the Red Sox were in a bad spot.
Gray even made public comments at one point that suggested he wouldn’t have been opposed to a trade. Even after Boston started to turn things around, there was still an argument that the club should move him, especially with his value soaring on the strength of this performance.
Now that the deadline has passed, the conversation should shift. The source material makes the case plainly: Boston should think about extending him.
Gray’s game doesn’t rely on overpowering hitters. He wins with pitch selection, command and the kind of competitive edge that shows up every time he takes the ball. The result has been a season built on consistency, not flash, and that’s exactly why he’s been so effective.
He may say things in the media that sound non-committal at times, but when it’s time to pitch, he gives everything he has. He never cheats the game.
With the way he’s going, Gray could still finish with 18 or 20 wins and author the best statistical season of his career. And as the source notes, it’s still a travesty that he was left off the All-Star team.
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