Gushing over Jon Gray

Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

It is cool to actually see Jon Gray pitch. The excitement from the glowing reports on a top pitching prospect like him are one thing, but to actually see him on the mound, no matter how poor the quality of the video or the unfortunate camera angle utilized in a Double-A park, is quite enjoyable.

It is in that spirit that I present to you the following: an opportunity to gush over top prospect Jon Gray, who has been stellar for the Tulsa Drillers as of late, and what he will eventually bring to the Rockies rotation. Accompanying these thoughts will be animated GIFs: they are enough to see Gray and get excited, though perhaps not enough to get into the finer details of analysis because of aforementioned issues with quality and camera angle.

With that in mind, let’s get excited about one of the two blue-chip starting pitchers currently in the Rockies minor league system.

Gray’s fastball

Worthy of consideration on its own, the life on Gray’s fastball is apparent right away. It gets on hitters in a hurry and he generally seems to locate it well when he’s going right. He’s been going right quite often in recent weeks, and much of that good work has presumably been because he can overwhelm Double-A hitters with his fastball.

Downward tilt on the fastball

I found this especially promising as I watched Gray’s starts. Many of his fastballs have nice downward tilt on them. Combined with his plus velocity, that is going to create a lot of weak ground balls. You know what the Rockies love? Starting pitchers who can get ground balls. If Gray has the ability to pair his swing-and-miss stuff with the ability to consistently get grounders and therefore work more efficiently, he will be uniquely positioned to be the rare true ace in Colorado.

Gray’s slider

Gray’s slider has a lot of downward break on it (also acknowledging the deceptive camera angle here). It looks like it breaks sharply and right-handed hitters especially have trouble picking it up. He gets some truly awkward swings and makes guys look pretty bad when he has them set up for his slider.

Gray’s fastball-slider combo

Not surprisingly, he gets some uncomfortable swings at his slider and some late swings on his fastball when he uses one to set up the other, especially when he uses his slider to set up his fastball as he does on the strikeout found above. As for the GIF below…just watch the helpless swing on the slider for strike two and try not to get giddy.

Gray’s Pace

Whether a pitcher is a slow worker or a fast worker, the pace at which they work can be used to make throw hitters off their game. Jorge De La Rosa, as an example, works quite slowly. That might make hitters uncomfortable, so it’s not to say that pitchers must work quickly.

That said, I love it when pitchers work quickly. I love the rhythm of it, I love that it makes the defense happy, and I love how frazzled it visibly makes hitters when a fast worker is clicking. Most recently Rockies fans have heard about how much everybody loves the brisk pace at which Brett Anderson operates.

From what I can tell, Gray likes to stay near the rubber and work fast. I guess we don’t know for sure that he will pitch that way in the big leagues, but I enjoyed seeing it. Besides, it gives us an excuse to watch that fastball-slider GIF again with the downright dirty slider for a swing-and-miss.

And last, but most certainly not least…

Jon Gray’s specs

This is important. The Rockies are sorely lacking in the “pitchers who wear specs department.” That will improve immediately upon Gray’s arrival in the big leagues.