Gray named Opening Day starter following Cards debut

JUPITER, Fla. -- Sonny Gray isn’t really the joking type, especially when he’s around baseball settings. As such, the Cardinals’ new ace rarely allows his focus to stray, and his emotions are usually buried well below a furrowed brow and a locked-in persona.

However, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol and pitching coach Dusty Blake were able to crack through Gray’s rugged exterior when they called the 34-year-old right-hander into the office for some news.

Upon informing the club’s $80 million offseason acquisition that he was the pick to be the Opening Day starter on March 28 when the Cardinals face the juggernaut Dodgers at Dodger Stadium, Marmol and Blake got to see a completely different side of Gray. For once, Gray didn’t mind allowing his emotions to pour out.

"I got chills and everything, and while sitting there, I was like, ‘Whoa, you got me there and I don’t get got a lot, but you just got me,'" Gray said on Tuesday following his 2024 Grapefruit League debut. “So, I got chills and then we just laughed through some things. It was cool. I’ve enjoyed every conversation with Oli thus far, and that was a good one.”

Gray gave a glimpse as to why the Cardinals went out and signed him to be the ace of their staff in Tuesday’s 3-3 tie against the Red Sox. Despite surrendering two hits and two walks, Gray adeptly pitched around traffic in the first inning by striking out Bobby Dalbec on a 93.4 mph sinker, his fastest pitch of the day, per Baseball Savant. Then, seconds later he worked with new teammate Brendan Donovan to pick Ceddanne Rafaela off second base.

“I think everybody prefers a clean 1, 2, 3 and go throw a couple of more pitches in the bullpen and go about your day, but that’s not how it was today,” said Gray, who allowed two hits and two walks while striking out two over two innings and 40 pitches. “It was nice to think, ‘Hey, you’ve got to make a pitch and bear down.’ When you have some other things going on [with base runners] and you’re fighting yourself with your delivery, it was nice to be able to bear down and make that pitch [to Dalbec].

“I had some self-talk there and when I evaluate it, I can say, ‘OK, that’s where I want to be more times and remember those feelings.’ I want to start there from the jump and not be feeling my way through it.”

Marmol said he’s known since late November, when the Cardinals landed Gray in free agency, that he wanted the 34-year-old on the mound on Opening Day against the Dodgers. With the Twins last season, Gray finished second in the American League Cy Young voting, while also compiling MLB’s third-lowest ERA (2.79).

Already this spring, Gray has impressed the Cards with his vocal leadership and his willingness to pour into others in hopes of making the pitching staff better as a whole.

“I think we nailed it when it comes to bringing this guy in because Sonny has done a phenomenal job not only with what he says, but how he goes about it,” Marmol said. “He’s been a great example for everybody else and it’s contagious. The ways in which he goes about the game, he’s so good with talking through it and guys around listen to it. He does a good job of explaining the ‘why’ behind the way he does something.”

Gray will become just the sixth pitcher in the rich history of the Cardinals to make his first start with the club on Opening Day. Kyle Lohse was the most recent pitcher to do that, opening the 2008 season against the Rockies after a rain out canceled Adam Wainwright’s scheduled start a day earlier.

Gray stressed that he doesn’t take the responsibility of being the Opening Day starter lightly. In three career Opening Day starts -- twice with the Athletics and once with the Reds in the COVID-shortened 2020 season -- he is 2-0 with just one earned run allowed in 22 innings pitched.

“It’s a tremendous honor, to be honest with you, and I don’t take that lightly at all,” said Gray, who said he hasn’t given any thought as to how he will attack Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and the Dodgers on Opening Day. “I’ve been fortunate enough to do it a few times in my career and I’ve enjoyed every single one of them. I appreciate the opportunity and what that shows.”