JUPITER, Fla. — Even if he could swing the bat, there was no way for Cardinals outfielder Lars Nootbaar to do anything against this backdoor slider on the far side of the plate. The late, sharp bite Sonny Gray gets on one of the best breaking balls in the game meant it didn’t look like a strike until it snapped back and into the catcher’s mitt.
Trackman, the tech used to call pitches, said it was a strike.
Nootbaar nodded.
Gray disagreed.
The right-hander gave his teammate a ball, so the pitcher was behind in the count.
“Sometimes umpires do that, and you’ve got to move on,†Gray said later. “So I like to make it more difficult on myself than easy on myself. I’d rather have a strike be called a ball than a ball be called a strike in a practice session. Throw a ball and call it a strike — makes it easier. But if you throw a strike and it’s called a ball, that makes it harder. I’d rather not give myself anything like that pitch.â€
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Making his next stride back from a hamstring strain toward a game and then the rotation, Gray threw a simulated inning-plus Sunday morning in a controlled setting on a back field of the Cardinals complex. His breaking ball was crisp. He showed no signs of fatigue. And he completed the assigned outing on the same day the Cardinals made official what he knew realistically the moment he walked off the mound two weeks ago with a muscle injury.
The calendar has run out, and Gray, the centerpiece of the Cardinals’ offseason spending on pitching, will not make the announced opening day start on March 28 at Dodger Stadium.
Manager Oliver Marmol announced Sunday morning that Miles Mikolas will make the start. The two-time All-Star will be making his third opening-day start. After a winter of touting their three new additions to the rotation, it’s Mikolas, a returning member, throwing their first of the season.
“We’re comfortable, we really are, and he wants it,†Marmol said. “He’s ready for it. He’s done it before. There is a lot going on when it’s opening day regardless of if you’re home or away, and he has the personality to handle that.â€
Where that slots Gray is to be determined.
He is two weeks behind his peers’ preparation, though he’s been able to maintain throwing during his recovery from a “mild†tear of his right hamstring.
The right-hander said he felt good coming out of Sunday’s simulated innings. After throwing between 22 and 24 pitches, he went through a full-speed fielding practice. The Cardinals were pleased with his lack of hesitancy and comfort during those react-and-run drills.
If he recovers well Monday, Gray will throw a more traditional live batting practice Thursday. Nootbaar and Luken Baker were asked to stand in on Gray’s work Sunday to give him a feel for a hitter in the batter’s box, but they could not swing. The Cardinals wanted to avoid Gray having to field or avoid a ball so he could focus on how the leg felt pitching.
On Thursday, Gray could get a game-like simulation — batters will swing and fielders could be in play, for example. If that goes well, his next outing could be an exhibition game against the Cubs the following week in Arizona.
“I can’t jump right into a game and go five innings like I wish I could, but I mean that is what it is,†Gray told the Post-Dispatch outside the Cardinals' clubhouse Sunday. “I’ve got to take the next 14 days and use them to my advantage. That way when I’m playing, I’m fully ready, and I will be. I’ve got to go through the proper course, the proper things to do. The worst thing you can do is play catch up the whole time. You don’t want to play catch-up because then you’re not in a good spot.â€
The Cardinals are keeping the assignments for their cameo in the Cactus League open to allow them to use those games for starters who will appear in the second series of the season, in San Diego.
Beyond Mikolas for the opener, the Cardinals have not set the opening week rotation.
Marmol said he did not want to speculate whether Gray could be ready to start in San Diego or the home opener, on April 4. The team also has discussed lining up Lance Lynn to make that start as he returns to the team that drafted him, made him a World Series champion and saw him become an All-Star before leaving as a free agent.
With his opening-day start in LA, Mikolas will join Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright as Cardinals starters of this era with three opening day assignments. He will also be making his second consecutive opening-day start. Coming out of the World Baseball Classic and his curious, limited use for Team USA, Mikolas struggled on March 30, 2023, against Toronto at Busch Stadium. He allowed five runs on 10 hits and did not complete the fourth inning.
Mikolas also started the opener in 2019 and lost to the Brewers after allowing five runs on five hits in five innings and misplacing an early Cardinals lead.
This spring, Mikolas has led the Cardinals rotation. His 16 innings lead the team, and he’s struck out 12 batters. He did not walk a batter until his fourth appearance of spring. Combining strikeouts with scarce walks has limited the damage of 18 hits allowed.
In his first time seeing hitter in the box since the hamstring strain March 3, Gray wanted to throw a complete inning and then start a second inning. That would give him the test of restarting after a rest, and it would also allow him to script the length of innings. He threw 14 pitches in his first simulated inning, working through each of his types of pitches. He landed the backdoor slider against Nootbaar. He was also able to work against a right-handed batter, Baker. Both of them stood in during the second simulated inning.
The last pitch Gray threw was a slider that carved over the plate to Baker.
He nodded that was a good strike to finish on.
“Headed in the right direction,†Marmol said after the workout. He said before it: “The smartest thing is to see how he comes out of this one and then the next one. How he responds. And then we’ll have a much better idea, rather than setting some expectations now and then having to veer from them.â€