New St. Louis Cardinals Ace Leaves Spring Training Start With Apparent Injury

Right-handed pitcher Sonny Gray left with the St. Louis Cardinals' Spring Training game against the Washington Nationals on Monday with an apparent injury.

With two outs in the second inning, manager Oli Marmol, pitching coach Dusty Blake and a team trainer visited Gray on the mound. He was removed, but stayed in the dugout while Kyle Leahy came in to finish the frame.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Lynn Worthy later reported that Gray was dealing with right hamstring tightness.

The Cardinals signed Gray to a three-year, $75 million contract in November.

Since 2014, Gray ranks No. 5 in starts and No. 7 in innings among all MLB pitchers. The 34-year-old righty is 98-85 with a 3.47 ERA, 1.207 ERA, 1,521 strikeouts and a 30.0 WAR in his career.

Gray got his start with the Oakland Athletics in 2013, and he established himself as one of baseball's best young arms over the next few seasons. He was eventually traded to the New York Yankees in 2017, but he did not find much success in pinstripes and got flipped to the Cincinnati Reds in 2019.

After three seasons and one All-Star appearance in Cincinnati, the Reds traded Gray to the Minnesota Twins in March 2022. Gray continued to thrive with his new club, making his third career All-Star appearance and finishing second in AL Cy Young voting in 2023.

Gray went 8-8 with a 2.79 ERA, 1.147 WHIP and 5.3 WAR last season. It marked the fifth time he posted a WAR above 3.0 and the sixth time his ERA came in below 3.10.

The veteran has allowed three hits, two walks and zero runs in 3.2 innings through his first two Grapefruit League appearances. FanGraphs' Steamer projections expect Gray to go 12-10 with a 3.83 ERA and 3.1 WAR in 2024.

Marmol officially pegged Gray as the Cardinals' Opening Day starter last week. First pitch against the Los Angeles Dodgers on March 28 is scheduled for 4:10 p.m. ET.