{"id":80723,"date":"2024-07-21T15:19:30","date_gmt":"2024-07-21T19:19:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=80723"},"modified":"2024-07-21T15:24:24","modified_gmt":"2024-07-21T19:24:24","slug":"sonny-gray-needs-rapid-resurgence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/07\/21\/sonny-gray-needs-rapid-resurgence\/","title":{"rendered":"Cardinals Ace Needs Quick Resurgence from Recent Struggles"},"content":{"rendered":"

St. Louis Cardinals ace Sonny Gray<\/a> has been largely stellar in his first year<\/a> with the team, but his slight struggles over his past three starts have held concerning signs for a Wild Card team.<\/p>\n

Sonny Gray’s Past Three Starts Show Signs of Struggles<\/h2>\n

7\/5 @ WSH – 5.0 IP, 5 ER,\u00a0 8 H, 6 K<\/p>\n

7\/12 vs CHC – 7.0 IP, 3 ER, 9 H, 6 K<\/p>\n

7\/20 @ ATL – 7.0 IP, 5 ER, 8 H, 10 K<\/p>\n

How Bad has Gray struggled? The short answer is: not terribly. There are definite positive signs in these three games, including pitching deep against the Chicago Cubs and Atlanta Braves, and his 22 strikeouts through this stretch. However, beyond the stats, Gray has obviously struggled with his command in recent games, and his usually potent splitter has fallen flat on multiple occasions.<\/p>\n

Roughed Up By the Braves<\/h3>\n

After his start against Atlanta<\/a>, in which he gave up three solo homers in a rocky sixth inning, Gray’s ERA for the month of July sits at an even 6.00. While neither of the starts against Washington or Chicago seemed particularly troublesome, it became apparent that Gray’s first-half workload was taking its toll. Many hoped that the All-Star break would equate to a return to form for the Cardinals ace, but Gray’s continuing lack of sharpness against Atlanta signals trouble for a St. Louis team in the wild card hunt.<\/p>\n

After a lead-off triple by Masyn Winn<\/a> and a sac fly from the hot-hitting<\/a> Alec Burleson<\/a>, the Cardinals led Atlanta 1-0 in the top of the 1st. On Gray’s first pitch, he gave up a similar triple to slumping Braves lead-off hitter Jarred Kelenic<\/a>. After an Ozzie Albies<\/a> single scored Kelenic<\/a>, Austin Riley<\/a> sent a bomb just past the right-field foul pole, which was initially ruled a homer but was overturned upon review.<\/p>\n

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Austin Riley opposite field home run for the lead \ud83d\udd25\u203c\ufe0f#MLB<\/a> #Braves<\/a>
\npic.twitter.com\/pApIsjHkbf<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Sports Nation (@Sports_Nation11) July 20, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n