Veteran right-hander Sonny Grey’s first season with the Cardinals has come to a detailed, because the membership has positioned him on the 15-day injured listing resulting from flexor tendonitis in his proper forearm. Proper-hander Kyle Leahy was recalled to switch Grey on the large league roster, and rookie Michael McGreevy is at present slated to take Grey’s place within the rotation as famous by Jeff Jones of the Belleville Information-Democrat.
Grey, 34, joined the Cardinals after signing a three-year, $75MM take care of the membership on the heels of a dominant 2023 season that noticed him submit an MLB-best 2.83 FIP as a member of the Twins and end second in AL Cy Younger award voting to Yankees ace Gerrit Cole. Grey’s begin to the season was barely delayed by harm however he began robust total, with a 2.60 ERA and a couple of.84 FIP in his first 9 begins with the membership that made it look as if Grey may be capable of ship extra of the dominance that he flashed in Minnesota with St. Louis this yr.
The outcomes have left one thing to be desired for Grey ever for the reason that calendar flipped to June, nonetheless, as he posted a 4.92 ERA in a 15-start stretch from early June to late August earlier than managing to complete the season robust with a 2.55 ERA and 1.91 FIP in his closing 4 begins of the yr. That leaves him with a comparatively pedestrian 3.84 ERA total in 166 1/3 innings of labor, although the underlying metrics counsel he’s been a superb bit higher than that. In any case, even that aforementioned stretch of 15 begins the place Grey struggled noticed him submit a stable sufficient 3.63 FIP whereas hanging out a superb 29.3% of his opponents. his full season stats, he’ll finish the yr with a 3.13 FIP that ranks seventh-best within the majors, a 30.3% strikeout price that’s tied with Tarik Skubal for the second-best determine within the huge leagues behind seemingly NL Cy Younger award winner Chris Sale, and three.8 fWAR that’s good for seventh-most amongst NL pitchers this yr.
Sadly, these promising peripheral numbers neither translated to elite manufacturing on the sector for Grey nor wins for a Cardinals membership that was not too long ago eradicated from playoff competition and has a 77-77 document with eight video games left to go within the common season. With that being mentioned, these robust underlying numbers do present cause for optimism that higher days must be forward for the veteran sooner or later. That’s excellent news for followers in St. Louis, as Grey is bound to be a key fixture of the membership’s beginning 5 subsequent yr. As famous by Jones, Grey underwent an MRI not too long ago that got here again clear and would seemingly nonetheless be pitching if the Cardinals remained within the playoff hunt. That makes it appear unlikely that Grey’s present ailment could have any form of impression on him when camp opens up for Spring Coaching subsequent yr.
Waiting for 2025, Grey figures to anchor a rotation that appears more likely to embody deadline addition Erick Fedde, veteran innings eater Miles Mikolas, and teenager Andre Pallante however nonetheless options some uncertainty resulting from the truth that the membership holds workforce choices on the companies of each Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn for subsequent yr. Whereas each veterans have been completely serviceable back-end arms for the Cardinals this yr, with the aforementioned quartet and Steven Matz all anticipated to return in 2025 it might hardly be a shock to see the membership decline the choices of 1 or each gamers seeking an improve to both the rotation or lineup elsewhere in the marketplace.
As for changing Grey within the quick time period, Leahy returns to the membership’s roster as a multi-inning aid possibility after posting a 4.02 ERA and three.62 FIP in 47 innings of labor earlier this yr. In the meantime, McGreevy made his huge league debut in a spot begin again in July and impressed with seven innings of one-run ball and at present sports activities a 0.90 ERA in ten innings on the huge league stage together with a 4.02 ERA in 27 begins at Triple-A this yr.
