It didn’t take long to know something was wrong once Willson Contreras jogged out the mound in the second inning.
After firing a pitch Monday to Washington Nationals hitter Keibert Ruiz, right-hander Sonny Gray motioned for Contreras, who quickly obliged. Next came head trainer Adam Olsen, with manager Oli Marmol and pitching coach Dusty Blake on Olsen’s heels, making for a mound meeting of the worst variety.
The visit was brief and concluded with Gray walking off the mound next to Olsen, tugging at his right hamstring. Organization-wide concern followed immediately.
An MRI late Monday night revealed what the St. Louis Cardinals say is encouraging, all things considered. Gray was diagnosed with a mild right hamstring strain and his status for Opening Day is “in question,” according to president of baseball operations John Mozeliak.
But the consensus from both Gray and the Cardinals is a feeling of relief that the injury wasn’t worse. Gray won’t throw for the next couple of days at a minimum, and the next three to five days will be pivotal in terms of formulating a timeline for Gray’s return to action. As of Tuesday morning, Mozeliak acknowledged that the runway for Gray to be cleared for Opening Day — slated for March 28 against the Los Angeles Dodgers — was “challenging.”
“This is something that is going to slow (Gray) down,” Mozeliak said. “But we don’t think it’s going to be something that’s going to go deep into the season by any means.”
“I’m not going to put any return to play (timeline) on it,” Mozeliak added. “It’s been less than 24 hours, so we’re just going to see how he responds over the next few days. But from the MRI reading, we are definitely encouraged.”
The Cardinals believe Gray’s strain is less than what he dealt with in 2022 with Minnesota.
“We don’t think it’s going to be something that’s going to go deep into the season by any means.” – John Mozeliak #STLCards https://t.co/MJcWHEvjuq
— Katie Woo (@katiejwoo) March 5, 2024
That Gray avoided a more severe strain is good news in the grand scheme of things, but any time a team’s Opening Day starter suffers an injury before regular-season play is cause for both disappointment and concern. This is especially true for the Cardinals, who are eager to debut Gray as the new ace of a revamped staff after spending the 2023 season ridiculed for their approach to the rotation.
“Let’s call it for what it is,” Gray said. “It sucks.”
Gray has experienced hamstring problems before, most recently in 2022 with the Minnesota Twins. He went on the injured list twice that season, but neither stint lasted longer than three weeks. Gray is hopeful to remain on a similar timeline, or perhaps even quicker, given that he feels his current strain isn’t as severe as what he experienced two years ago.
“I felt prepared. I felt confident. My stuff was really, really sharp,” Gray said. “I think that was the most frustrating part. I just felt really crisp and really sharp and normal. But the good thing is, it’s not a thing where I’m going to get completely shut down.
“I think we’ll talk again in three to four days and everyone will probably have a better understanding of where we’re at. I think everyone is in the same boat, under the same impression, that it’s still the early, middle-ish part of spring training, and fortunately, there are three weeks until the regular season.”
Gray described himself as feeling “better than I probably expected” upon waking up Tuesday morning, and could hop on a stationary bike and do some basic strengthening and stretching activities. He agreed the next few days would be crucial in determining a potential timeline.
“Really within the next two to three to five days, it’s just about making as much of an improvement on an individual day as I can,” Gray said. “Today, is a good day, a good feeling. (Now) it’s making as drastic improvements at the beginning of this thing as possible.”
Sonny Gray on his hamstring injury: “It’s not overly concerning on my end, on the trainer’s end, on the doctor’s end, so those are all good things, but there is a small little strain in there.”
On his status for Opening Day: “I don’t know.” #STLCards pic.twitter.com/TiGSM6D26b
— Bally Sports Midwest (@BallySportsMW) March 5, 2024
With Gray unlikely for Opening Day, the rotation lines up as Miles Mikolas, Kyle Gibson, Lance Lynn and Steven Matz, with either Matthew Liberatore or Zack Thompson rounding out the five. There is a scenario in which both Liberatore and Thompson make the rotation if the Cardinals decide to deploy a six-man rotation to open the year. St. Louis has one scheduled off-day over the first 14 days of the regular season, which will play into that decision.
As for if the Cardinals could explore the free-agent market — one that still includes top starting pitchers Jordan Montgomery and Blake Snell — Mozeliak said he didn’t see that as necessary at this point.
“I definitely feel (adding pitching depth) is not something that is required at this point,” Mozeliak said. “If something changes, we’d have to look at it differently, but we’re not thinking we’ll have to do that at this point.”
That the Cardinals aren’t jumping into the market reinforces the sentiment that Gray’s hamstring strain is indeed mild and that the organization feels it has the internal depth in Thompson and Liberatore to cover his absence. But Gray’s injury also reveals the lack of top-tier pitching in the organization. Mozeliak set out over the offseason needing to replace three spots in the rotation. He targeted “innings-eaters” like Gibson and Matz based on the team’s inability to pitch through games through most of the first half of last season.
Gray will still assume the role of the ace of the staff, though delayed.
“This is our first test,” Marmol said. “It’s unfortunate, but the guys here, they’re going to respond the way they need to respond. (Gray) is a guy who is a leader, a vocal leader, and he’s going to continue to do those things as he prepares to pitch again. Thankfully, it’s mild. And it’s not something that’s going to sideline him for a couple of months.”
Should Gray’s injury sideline him for the minimum time — roughly three weeks based on the average recovery time of mild hamstring strains — he would still need to ramp up from an arm perspective. Gray was scheduled for three innings in his exhibition start on Monday but only recorded five outs on 20 pitches before he was pulled from the game. Gray’s progress through the week will indicate when he can resume throwing.
Until then, the Cardinals will wait with bated breath as to how their ace of the staff will recover.
(Photo of Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras: Jim Rassol / USA Today)
