Cardinals Make Sonny Gray Decision Before Nationals Game

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Gavin M. Groe | Last updated Jul 8, 2025 7:00 AM ET

Sonny Gray is in his 13th major-league season and his second with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Gray was selected in the first round of the 2011 MLB Draft by the Oakland Athletics and made his major-league debut in 2013.

Since then, he has spent time with the New York Yankees, Cincinnati Reds and Minnesota Twins before signing a three-year, $75 million contract with the Cardinals in November 2023.

Over his career, he has been selected to three All-Star Games and finished in the top 10 of Cy Young Award voting on three occasions.

Gray has been an extremely dependable arm throughout his career, and ahead of Tuesday’s series opener against the Washington Nationals, the Cardinals opted to bump his scheduled start up one day—from Wednesday to Tuesday.

Teammate Andre Pallante was moved back to Wednesday, giving him an extra day of rest at Gray’s expense, despite Gray having pitched more recently (Gray threw on July 2; Pallante’s last outing was July 1).

Cardinals will switch Sonny Gray and Andre Pallante ahead of the upcoming Nats series.

Tues - Gray
Wed - Pallante
Thurs - Mikolas

Rest of the week is TBD. #STLCards
— Katie Woo (@katiejwoo) July 8, 2025

The Cardinals have lost six of their last ten games, including a series defeat to division rival Chicago Cubs, so accelerating the veteran Gray’s start may reflect the club’s desire to regain momentum before the All-Star break.

Gray has served as the Cardinals’ ace since joining the team. In 2025, he carries a 3.51 ERA over 17 starts, has compiled an 8–3 record.

He has also been especially sharp as of late; his most recent standout outing came in a nine-inning, one-hit shutout against the Cleveland Guardians, in which he struck out ten and walked only one.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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