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Major League starting pitcher. Nationals Youth Baseball Academy player ambassador. Clothing line collaborator.

Twenty-five-year-old Josiah Gray is on track to add college graduate to his already-lengthy list of accomplishments this winter, too.

“When I went to school, I obviously wanted to play professional baseball -- but I did go there to get my degree,” Gray said. “I didn’t want to stray from that goal of achieving that.”

Gray left Le Moyne College in Syracuse, N.Y., following his junior year for the 2018 Draft, where he was selected in the second round by Cincinnati. He had completed the majority of the core curriculum for a Bachelor’s Degree in business management and leadership, and he had mostly electives remaining. Through his contract signing, the Reds contributed toward his continued education.

“From 2018 on to now 2023, I’ve taken one or two classes a year to continue getting my degree,” Gray said. “I’m taking a class here in May -- a two-or three-week course -- and then a class in July … both electives. After that, I’ll be completed and hopefully walk in December.”

Gray has a rhythm that does not affect his pitching preparation and performance. The online courses he has been taking are designed to be completed at the student’s pace. So he maps out his pitching schedule and completes his educational tasks around it.

“I have to pick out certain times to dedicate to the work,” Gray said. “Depending on when assignments are due, I finagle my schedule accordingly. I know I won’t work on the day I pitch, so how do I prepare the day before or the day after … Do I do more work on one day compared to another? Say we’re on a flight to wherever, how can I complete work there as well? Just trying to find bits and pieces of time to get the work done.”

Gray has gotten creative outside of a traditional classroom setting. He recalled one night in 2021 when he was in Oklahoma City with the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate. It was a game in which he was not pitching, and he had an assignment due at 10 p.m. ET.  

“Mid-game, I’m like completing a paper,” Gray said. “I was in the clubhouse and I was typing this paper. It was crazy, but I ended up completing it. … I had to get the work done.”  

Gray enjoyed the music history courses he took his freshman and sophomore years because of the professor, and he considers a course on the religions of Asia as the most challenging due to the amount of required reading and papers.  

Up next on Gray’s educational agenda is a theater class this spring, followed by a psychology class -- his third on the subject -- this summer.  

“In season, I don’t want anything too crazy hard,” he said.  

Gray has not thought down the road about what he would want to do with his degree. His goal is “to play baseball as long as possible.” But he had a strong urge to continue learning once he entered the pros that, like a good pitch, he couldn't shake.  

“I want to complete [my degree] because that was my original plan,” he said. “I think I’d appreciate it, my family would appreciate it."