WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Sonny Gray, the frontrunner to start Opening Day for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2025, said he felt “great” physically on Wednesday after his first spring start, an outing in which he focused on refining his pitch sequence, despite allowing three solo home runs.
Gray’s health will be crucial for stability in the Cardinals’ rotation this season. Around this time last year, he left a start early due to a sudden hamstring injury, sidelined through the first two weeks of the regular season.
This spring, Gray’s focus has been on staying healthy and working his preparation process rather than worrying about results.
“Physically, I felt really good, so that’s a good thing,” said Gray after Wednesday’s game, an eventual 6-5 loss to the Houston Astros at the CACTI Ballpark of Palm Beaches. “Mentally, I felt like I was invested, just executing pitches. Obviously you hate to see the three homers. It is what it is. It’s spring training.”
“Overall I felt very good with everything that I was doing. Tried a few things differently. Learned a few lessons.”
Gray’s start gave him a chance to mix in his four-seam fastball, sweeper, cutter, and sinker over roughly 50 pitches. He faced 12 batters, cruising through eight and striking out three. However, three hitters tagged him for solo home runs, though the wind seemed to play a factor too.
The stat line (2.2 IP, 3 ER, 4 H) wasn’t ideal, but Gray views his first spring start as an opportunity to sharpen his approach and make adjustments in how he studies hitters before his next outing.
“Physically, I felt great, and that’s step number one for me. Just continuing to add layers, it was a layer getting to the game. It was more like let’s just stay focus on you. Stay focused on you. You execute pitches that you want to execute, that you want to feel. So next start we’ll add another layer as far as some of the scouting goes. Maybe pick three or four guys, add that layer into the week.”
Gray explained that he was working on short spin in the zone during a matchup with Astros shortstop Jeremy Peña. He executed the pitch, but it resulted in the first of three home runs allowed. With that in mind, moving forward, Gray believes a greater focus on understanding hitters’ strengths and weaknesses will help him build toward the season.
“It kind of hones in to ‘This is what I do vs. lefties,’ [and] ‘This is what I do vs. righties.,’ said Gray. “And next for me is adding the layer of scouting of that, which gives me a clearer picture of how to attack Hitter A, Hitter B, Hitter C.”
Manager Oli Marmol felt encouraged by Gray’s outing and touted his attention to detail.
“Good to see him out there for the first time,” said Marmol. “Mixed all of his stuff, and thought it was good coming off. That’s what you’re looking at for the first time out there.”
“The guy really understands what he’s trying to get out of the day, and if he feels like he needs to do something as he knows, he’ll do it. He’s really intentional to what he wants to get out of an outing like today.”
Gray arrived to the Cardinals’ bullpen nearly an hour before his start to work through mechanics, delivery, and timing, all part of his meticulous preparation for the season ahead.
“Just continue to add layers, so two to three weeks from now, you feel like you’re firing on all cylinders,” said Gray.
The Cardinals dropped to 5-7 this spring after Wednesday’s loss to the Astros. Luken Baker kept up his strong spring with his team-leading third spring home run, while Alec Burleson and Ivan Herrera both ended their days with a pair of hits.