For Gray, '22 brings chance to make strides

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Josiah Gray took a moment to regroup between innings. He had allowed three home runs in the first -- one coming on the second pitch of his Spring Training debut -- and he wanted to come out stronger for his second scheduled frame.

“Go back out there, continue to pound the zone, get guys out, feel like I’m progressing in terms of my next up -- like they like to call it -- and then go on from there,” Gray reflected after the Nationals’ 6-2 loss to the Mets on Saturday evening at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches.

The righty gave up dingers to a trio of lefty batters -- fastballs to leadoff hitter Luis Guillorme and Nick Plummer as well as a curveball to Dominic Smith -- in the Nationals’ second spring contest. Gray allowed four hits and four runs (all earned) with a strikeout in the first inning, followed up with a strikeout, no hits and no runs in two-thirds of the second frame.

“He threw the ball well,” manager Dave Martinez said. “The ball was coming out -- it was just, location. A couple balls he tried to get in just ran back over the plate. … For him, it’s working ahead in counts. His putaway pitch, he’s trying to bury too many pitches. He’s got to start throwing his breaking balls a little bit more for strikes.”

Gray, 24, was a headlining prospect in the Nationals’ Trade Deadline blockbuster with the Dodgers that sent Max Scherzer and Trea Turner to Los Angeles last season. He quickly became part of Washington’s starting staff, showing enough in his rookie campaign (2-2, 5.48 ERA in 14 games, 13 of them starts) to prove himself for the 2022 rotation.

Gray had his struggles with home runs, though. He gave up three long balls in a game twice last season -- in his Major League debut on July 20 vs. the Giants (while with the Dodgers) and Aug. 13 against the Braves (after joining the Nats). He also allowed at least one dinger in 12 starts, but he settled in toward the end of the season to limit opponents to two homers across his final four outings.

“He showed a lot last year of his tenacity and the way he works and his routine,” Martinez said. “He wants to throw more changeups … [and] he wants to be able to throw his curveball for strikes instead of spiking up early in counts … The way he puts it, he wants to fine tune everything, then get everything polished and then attack hitters.”

Across 62 2/3 innings last season, Gray delivered 51.7% four-seam fastballs (averaging 94.6 mph), 25.1% curveballs, 20% sliders and 3.2% changeups. Of the pitches Martinez noted, Gray held hitters to a .172 batting average and recorded a 47.8% whiff rate with his curveball, while his changeup (thrown just 39 times) yielded a .286 opponents’ batting average and a 9.1% whiff rate.

“Continuing the command early in count with those pitches is going to be huge for me this year,” Gray said.

Gray prepared for his first full Major League season by training at Cressey Sports Performance in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., this winter. But he had not pitched in live game action since Oct. 2, an important “first” for him to check off in camp.

“Getting back out there with the routine and fans and even sitting down in between innings, there’s nothing that replicates that,” said Gray. “Getting to be out there for the first time in six or so months reinstills that love for the game, and I’m excited to do that for the rest of the year.”