Colorado Rockies: Six season storylines from what we’ve seen in Arizona

Early-inning struggles continue for Jon Gray

Thursday night, Jon Gray struggled in the first inning much like he did all of last season. He would typically struggle in the early innings before settling in and becoming the dominant pitcher he can be.

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Thursday night against the Diamondbacks, Gray went four innings, giving up six hits and three earned runs. However, all of those three runs came in the bottom of the first.

Gray’s career ERA in the first inning is 4.55, higher than his career ERA of 4.12. The stats then show that he settles into a grove after that first inning with his lowest ERAs in the second and third innings.

I see Gray’s early inning struggles, especially in that first inning, to carry over into this season.

In one of my previous articles, I mentioned that I don’t think Gray is an ace. I think his early inning struggles is his biggest flaw. If he is able to come into the game strong from start to finish, I have no doubt that Gray will become on of the best starting pitchers in Rockies history.