JUPITER, Fla. — One week after a right hamstring injury forced Cardinals to leave his spring training start flanked by his manager, pitching coach and the head athletic trainer, the right-hander stood on the mound and fired pitches without pain.
Gray, who signed a three-year free-agent contract with the Cardinals this winter worth a guaranteed $75 million, threw a 20-pitch bullpen session at the team’s spring training facility on Monday morning prior to the team’s exhibition game against the Washington Nationals.
“All in all, it’s been a good week,†Gray said. “That’s all I can really look at right now.â€
Gray, who the Cardinals announced as their opening day starting pitcher, suffered a hamstring strain in the second inning of his Grapefruit League start against the Nationals in West Palm Beach, Florida.
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Gray grabbed the back of his leg after his follow through on the second pitch of his at-bat to Nick Senzel. Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras immediately signaled to the coaching and training staffs on the bench. After a brief conference on the mound, Gray exited the game.
Following an MRI last Monday, Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak described Gray’s strain as “mild†one day later. However, Mozeliak did not offer a definitive timetable for Gray’s recovery and acknowledged his opening day start was in doubt.
Gray resumed light activity with a few days of the injury, including playing catch and doing work the weight room and conditioning on the field. Gray played catch from a distance of 120-150 feet on Saturday, which manager Oli Marmol characterized as “making progress.â€
Asked about how big of a benchmark Gray’s session would be on Monday morning, Marmol said, “That’s what this is, the next step. We’ll see how he recovers from this and figure out what that progression looks like from here. He’s been moving around great.â€
Gray having gotten back on the mound a week after the injury could bode well considering he didn't have to stop throwing for any significant period of time. He likely will not have to restart his throwing program, and he may be able to resume his building up his innings right where he'd left off prior to the injury.Â
The premier addition of the Cardinals offseason, Gray finished second in the AL Cy Young Award voting last season. He went 8-8 with a 2.79 ERA, 9.0 strikeouts per nine innings, a 3.33-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio and a 1.15 WHIP in 32 starts (184 innings) with the Minnesota Twins in 2023.
His 2.83 FIP (fielder independent pitching) and 0.4 home runs allowed per nine innings pitched both led the majors. He logged the second-best ERA among qualified AL pitchers, the third-best in the majors.