Jon Gray Shows His Upside In Limited Action vs. Padres

Colorado Rockies top prospect Jon Gray made his seventh Major League start Tuesday night on the road against the San Diego Padres. One thing Gray has yet to do is collect his first big league win. Entering play Tuesday night, Gray was 0-0 with a 6.15 ERA. Hit your panic buttons everyone! On a serious note, the right-hander made quite the impression in his latest start vs. San Diego.

Unfortunately for Gray, he was unable to collect his first MLB win but made quite the impression as the Rockies fell in extra innings to the Padres. The Rockies of course have Jon on a strict pitch count, trying to preserve his arm to avoid overuse. Over his first seven Major League starts, the hard-throwing right-hander has averaged 73 pitches per start — pretty protective I must say.

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This might have been Gray’s best start of the season, stat-line wise anyway. His command wasn’t the best but he still got the job done. After all was said and done, Gray threw five scoreless innings of two-hit ball, walking two and striking out six. Gray tied a season-high in strikeouts as a member of the Rockies, where he struck out six over 4.1 innings on the road vs. Pittsburgh.

The second inning was easily the best frame for Gray on the night. With a full-count and Justin Upton up to bat, Gray trusted his slider and recorded the strikeout to start the bottom half of the second. After giving up a 1-2 single to Jedd Gyorko, Gray battled back, fanning Derek Norris on a 95-MPH fastball. With two outs in the inning and a 2-2 count on Cory Spangenberg, Gray went with his slider yet again, freezing Spangenberg to strikeout the side.

Like I mentioned earlier on, Gray was on a pitch count, finishing the night with 75-pitches. His command was a little rough, yet he was effectively wild if you will. The right-hander threw just 42 strikes all night, but trusted his stuff enough to get the job done which is good to see.

Don’t worry Rockies’ fans, there is still time this season for Jon Gray to collect his first big league win. Gray’s next scheduled start comes on the road next Monday against the Los Angeles Dodgers.