'It's amazing to see': How Gray is helping the next generation 

This story was excerpted from Jessica Camerato’s Nationals Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Before right-hander Josiah Gray begins camp in Florida, he is spending time at another Spring Training complex in Arizona. Gray is among the current and former Major and Minor League players, managers and coaches participating in the 2024 DREAM Series at Tempe Diablo Stadium.

The seventh annual event, hosted by Major League Baseball and USA Baseball, is a premiere development program that offers mentorship and instruction for pitchers and catchers. This year, nearly 80 predominantly Black and Latino high school players nationwide are attending the four-day event that coincides with Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend.

“When I was in high school, I always dreamed of these events,” Gray, who attended the 2014 Breakthrough Series, told MLB.com’s Matthew Ritchie on Friday. “But it wasn’t at the level that it’s at today. So, just to see them fly out these young Black kids that are really good at baseball -- there’s a lot of good talent out here -- it’s amazing to see. I think it shows you that the game is in good hands.”

Along with Gray, Hunter Greene, CC Sabathia, Micah Johnson and Cole Tucker are slated to make guest appearances. Former National Howie Kendrick is among the instructors, joining Lou Collier, Marvin Freeman, Tom Gregorio, Antonio Grissom, Marquis Grissom, LaTroy Hawkins, Kenny Hill, Brian Hunter, Marcus Jensen, Stan Kyles, Jerry Manuel, Darrell Miller, Darren Oliver, Tye Waller and Lenny Webster.

Gray, 26, is the Nationals Youth Baseball Academy player ambassador. Participating in the event is YBA scholar athlete Solomon McKinney from Riverdale Baptist School. DREAM Series participants from the DMV also include Myles Upchurch (St. Albans School), Clayton Armah (St. John's College HS), James Wyllie (Riverside HS) and Aiden Harris (Pro Development Group Academy).

Those young players are aspiring to join former DREAM Series attendees drafted by Major League organizations. Nationals 2022 first-round pick and No. 5 prospect, Elijah Green, is among previous participants. The group of alumni who have made it to the bigs also features Greene (Reds), Taj Bradley (Rays), Michael Harris II (Braves), Jordan Walker (Cardinals) and Simeon Woods-Richardson (Twins). In addition to Green, prospect alumni include Termarr Johnson (MLB Pipeline’s No. 22 overall prospect) and Druw Jones (MLB No. 33).

“I think it comes down to that next generation, trying to help them out, trying to understand where they’re at in their games,” Gray told Harold Reynolds and Chris Young on MLB Network. “A lot of the guys coming here to this event are the cream-of-the-crop, committed to the biggest schools, going to get draft looks, everything like that. I wasn’t that player in high school, but I think if I had any big leaguer around me when I was working up through those ages, it’d give you that extra push to say, ‘You can do that and you can be just like them.’”

MLB Network will recap the 2024 DREAM Series on “MLB Tonight: A Conversation,” airing Monday at 6 p.m. ET. It will be available for viewing on-demand on MLB.com, MLB.TV and the MLB App.