Sonny Gray’s Response to My Question Lasted Five Full Minutes

This past Sunday’s Notes column led with a look at Sonny Gray, so my joining in on his introductory Zoom session with the Boston media on Tuesday was mostly a matter of practicality. There are always things to learn — typically pieces of information that are useful down the road — when a trade acquisition takes questions from reporters. I wasn’t expecting to feature the veteran right-hander any time soon.

But then I asked Gray a question, and not only did he answer it thoughtfully, his response was meaty. The newest member of the Red Sox starting rotation spoke, uninterrupted, for a full five minutes. What he said is well worth sharing.

Here is what I asked, and — lightly edited for clarity — Gray’s expansive reply.

In April 2023, we talked about how you’ve evolved as a pitcher. Do you think you’ve settled in to who you’ll be going forward, or do you foresee any changes with your repertoire or usage?

Gray: “I hope there are changes, to be honest with you. If you’re not constantly changing, and you’re not consciously adapting, then I think that you’re going to be stagnant. Right? 2023 was a good jump for me. I added a few things. I changed a few things. But I kept the core of me together. I kept who I am.

“I spin the ball. I spin the ball better than anyone in baseball. That’s a fact. I still have enough velo to allow that to play. That’s a fact. I can take my fastball and go both ways with it, just as good as anyone. I still get my strikeouts.

“My walk rate has drastically declined. Some will say that’s great. I will argue that there is some give and take there. Maybe a few more walks could be better. A few more walks, a few less hits, a few less homers, a little less damage. That’s something I would love to get into. Right? Situations where walks are OK. It’s OK to walk the guy right here, rather than giving in… not giving in, but rather not giving up a double, or giving up damage, or throwing a pitch that potentially could [elicit] damage. I would love to do that.

“Spinning the ball, obviously… we were talking about that last year. I know that’s a cult in Boston. It’s something that I do better than anyone in baseball, so I would love to hear thoughts about that. I know I’ll get there. I’ve talked to [Red Sox pitching coach] Andrew [Bailey] a handful of times already, and we’re going to get into it on Thursday a little bit more, then kind of go from there. I would love to continue to learn, continue to grow, continue to develop, because I know that there is more left in there for me.

“Also, having a guy like Garrett [Crochet] at the top of the rotation is something that I couldn’t be happier about. Someone that I can lean to, someone that I can follow, someone that I can lead, someone that I can learn from, someone that I can teach, someone that can push me, someone that I can push. Those are all important things that I had in 2023, things that I’ve had in the past, and that I hope to have again in the future.

“Yeah, I love this side of it. This is the side that I really like. I like talking baseball. I like talking pitching. I love pitching. I like striking people out. I like winning games. That was my goal last year, to strike people out and win games. I’m very proud of that. I made 31, 32, 33 starts. I don’t know how many I made — I’m also not a stats junkie — but I think the team was 21-10. [He made 32 starts in 2025, and the Cardinals went 21-11 in those games.] Something like that. That was important to me. I wanted the team to win the games that I pitched.

“But to answer your question, yes, I am who I am, but I definitely think there’s room for improvement. If you look at the last couple of years, my ERA was inflated a little bit, directly correlated to damage. Right? Walks down, strikeouts up, damage up, homers up. Homers are runs. There is a way to get back to limiting damage, punching out people, and the walks may go up a little with it. That would be OK.

“I’ll get into that. I’ll ask all of these questions, and we’ll figure out an approach going forward. Then, as far as pitch development and pitch shapes, pitch design… I will be very interested in usage. Use this one more, use this one less. Yeah, I love that type of stuff. I’m very open to learning that without moving too far off of who I am as a pitcher, and who I am as a person.”