Sonny Gray’s first season in Boston may have ended with a thud, but the right-hander is leaving the door open to a much bigger question than the Red Sox’ playoff collapse: whether he wants to keep pitching at all.
Gray, who turns 37 in November, wrapped up a career year by going 18-5 with a 2.72 ERA over 169 innings in 29 regular-season starts. The wins were a career high and led the American League. But his big season came to an abrupt stop Wednesday night in Boston’s 9-2 loss to the Yankees in Game 2 of the AL Wild Card series.
After manager Chad Tracy pulled him with two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning and the Yankees up just 1-0, the Red Sox bullpen fell apart for the second straight night, sealing Boston’s 2026 season.
Gray, who is headed for free agency this winter, said afterward that retirement is at least on the table.
"I don’t know what the future holds for me," the three-time All-Star said. "I do know that I walked off that mound with my chest back and my chin up, and I can definitely be proud that I left it all out there until the ball was taken out of my hands."
He was sharp in his final outing, allowing two runs on six hits with no walks and five strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings.
With 2025 AL Cy Young runner-up Garrett Crochet out for most of the season because of injury, Gray became the staff ace for Boston and what could end up being his only year in a Red Sox uniform. Asked whether he could be back in 2027, he kept it simple.
"I don't know."
Even with the uncertainty hanging over his future, Gray said he’ll remember what Boston pulled off after falling 14 games under .500 at one point early in the summer.
"We were left for dead there for a while and I’ll definitely remember that run that we went on and what that felt like, I’d never experienced anything like that in my career," he said, per Cerullo. "To dig ourselves out of that hole and to put ourselves in this situation, that was a lot of fun."
If Gray does walk away, he said it won’t be because he’s done with baseball. He made it clear there’s still plenty left in the tank, and any decision would be about family time.
"I’ve got a lot of baseball left in me," Gray said.
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