BREAKING: Sonny Gray Announce Major News On entering age-35 season
Sonny Gray, starting pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, is entering his 13th season in Major League Baseball and has experienced a wide range of ups and downs throughout his career.
He has twice finished in the top three for Cy Young voting, once in his 20s and again in his 30s. However, his time with the New York Yankees included significant struggles, such as a 4.90 ERA in 2018, a year before he earned an All-Star nod with the Cincinnati Reds.
As he heads into his 35th season with the Cardinals, Gray feels confident that he still has plenty of baseball left to play.
“Physically, I feel more than capable, and mentally, I’m strong,” Gray said, according to John Denton of MLB.com. “I still love the game and I’m still very good at it, so I feel really good about it.”
Gray also believes pitchers tend to peak later in their careers, suggesting he’s still in his prime.
“I think pitchers peak in their early to mid-30s, so we’ll see how the high-30s go. With my [smaller] frame, as long as I take care of my body, I’ll be fine. Mentally, I’m as strong as ever with all the repetitions I’ve had. But as for pitching, I still feel strong.”
Erick Fedde and Sonny Gray will lead a Cardinals rotation with plenty of potential
While the St. Louis Cardinals are in rebuilding mode, their rotation still has the potential to secure some wins. Sonny Gray’s 2024 season wasn’t quite up to the Cy Young-level performance of his 2023 campaign with the Minnesota Twins, but he was still effective with a 13-9 record, 3.84 ERA, and 203 strikeouts.
If Gray is the team’s ace, the revamped Erick Fedde is close behind him. Acquired at the trade deadline last year, Fedde’s strong return from Korea continued into the stretch run. After a 5.41 ERA with the Washington Nationals from 2017 to 2022, he posted a much-improved 3.30 ERA last season between the Cardinals and the Chicago White Sox.
Beyond those two, there are several uncertainties. The experiment of Andre Pallante as a starter was successful last year, but he’ll need to prove he can repeat that performance in year two. Michael McGreevy impressed in his first three major league starts, but it remains to be seen how he handles a full season (or even a full month). Miles Mikolas, a nine-year veteran, remains durable, but his 5.32 ERA over 32 starts last season doesn’t inspire much confidence, especially with just 6.4 strikeouts per nine innings and a hard-hit percentage above 42%.