St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Sonny Gray. Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports

Cardinals pitcher suffers setback in spring training

By Andrew Kulha | Last updated 3/4/24

St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Sonny Gray seemed poised to follow up his stellar 2023 season, a campaign that saw him pitch well enough to be a Cy Young Award runner-up for the Minnesota Twins.

The Cardinals signed Gray this offseason and gave him a three-year, $75 million contract in hopes that he could be the centerpiece of a revamped pitching rotation.

Two innings into his second spring training appearance, Gray was looking the part. He had thrown 20 pitches with one hit and one strikeout, but he asked for catcher Willson Contreras to meet up with him midway through his next at-bat against Washington Nationals catcher Keibert Ruiz.

Gray huddled up with Contreras, the coaching staff and St. Louis' head athletic trainer, and he was subsequently removed from the game with right hamstring tightness.

Sonny Gray was removed from the game with right hamstring tightness. #stlcards
— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) March 4, 2024

The pitcher was scheduled to undergo an MRI Monday night, and now his status as the Cardinals' Opening Day starter is in question. St. Louis kicks off the regular season on March 28 against the Los Angeles Dodgers on the road.

If Gray can quickly get back onto the mound for the Cardinals, they'll be getting one heck of a pitcher back into the rotation.

A 34-year-old righty selected 18th overall by the Oakland Athletics in the 2011 MLB Draft, Gray went 8-8 last season for the Twins with a 2.79 ERA (third in MLB) and 1.15 WHIP.

He boasts a 98-85 record as a starter with a 3.47 ERA.

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